Canary Creams
by Catgirlie
Summary: Lily and Scorpius have always hated each other, but during their sixth year they become the unlikeliest of friends... Rated T for language.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: This is my first attempt at a fanfic. I don't really have much to say, but any reviews are very much appreciated, and feel free to PM me if you want. =) Thanks for reading!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own HP or anything that goes with it.**

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><p><em>Dearest Lily,<em>

_Come to Hogsmeade with me this weekend?_

_-Scorpius_

_P.S. Hope you enjoy the pastries._

I crumpled the letter up in disgust while practically glaring at the pastries he'd sent along with it. Malfoy had been trying to ask me out since second year, Circe knows why. I picked a pastry up and was about to take a bite out of it when I recognized a familiar smell…

_That little git!_ I thought angrily, taking the whole bag of them and tossing them behind me, not caring where it went. _Canary Creams?_ Really_?_

I stormed out of my dorm, through the Gryffindor common room—where I received a number of stares—and down to the Great Hall, where Malfoy was playing wizard chess with some brute named Adam Avery, who happened to be losing quite horribly.

"Malfoy!" I hissed.

At that, he looked up with a smirk. "Good evening, Lily."

Somehow, that made me even more furious with him. "Canary Creams? Honestly, out of all the things you could think of! My uncle invented those! How could I _not_ recognize them?" I fumed, not caring that all eyes were now on me or that I was being ridiculously irrational. "You are so _stupid_, you insufferable little git!"

"Overreacting much?" he remarked, amusement glittering in his grey eyes.

I screamed in frustration, stomping angrily back up to the common room.

Dom merely raised an eyebrow at me when I shoved my way through the portrait hole after nearly spitting the password at the Fat Lady. "So, Lily. What happened this time?"

"Scorpius Malfoy," I growled.

Suddenly, Dom burst out laughing. "What?" I exclaimed, scowling. Dom pointed to something behind me.

An angry Mary Finnigan was coming down the stairs, molting bright yellow feathers. I stifled a laugh as I realize that she must have accidentally eaten a Canary Cream...

"_Who did this?_" Mary screeched, glaring at everyone in the common room.

Dom and I erupted into hysterical laughter as Mary simply glared and stormed away, probably off to find someone else to yell at.

"So what happened with Malfoy?" Dom finally asked as we walked up to the sixth years' dormitory.

"He sent me a note. Along with a plate full of Canary Creams..," I told her, giggling again. Anything that involved making Mary furious was okay with me—she was _such_ a bitch—even if it meant having to appreciate Malfoy's little "gift."

Dom grinned. "At least those were helpful in the end..."

We laughed as we entered the dorm and proceeded to get ready for bed.

"You know, I've always wondered why you always had an issue with Malfoy," Dom said thoughtfully. "He's pretty fit if you ask me..."

"But he's so ... so... _ugh_," I said, unable to put my hate for him into words.

"Yeah, but he's _fit_. Haven't you ever been even _remotely_ attracted to him?"

"Well, yeah, but it's not my fault that he's both hot _and_ an arsehole!" I exclaimed indignantly.

"If you two weren't so competitive with each other all the time, I think you'd see that he's not a bad guy," Dom said, probably trying to reason with me.

I snorted. "Yeah, right. Besides, if he's so _fit_ and is _such_ a nice guy, then why don't you date him?"

"Excuse me," Dom grinned playfully, "But I have a boyfriend already."

Dom was currently dating a Ravenclaw named Evan Miller, who was probably the second most attractive guy in Hogwarts, the first being Scorpius. Unfortunately. And seeing as Dom was clearly the prettiest girl in our year—and had liked him since second year—they were a lovely match.

By the time we'd finished talking, it was well into the night and the other girls in our dorm had already returned and fallen asleep (despite the noise we were making) and Dom and I finally decided we were exhausted.

I tossed and turned for what seemed like hours, only to check the silver hand-me-down watch I always wore (a present from one of my many aunts and uncles) to see that it had been barely ten minutes since Dom and I had gotten into bed. Dom was obviously asleep; I could hear her snores—the girls in our dorm complained about that a lot—coming from her bed, next to mine.

After staring at the ceiling for a while, I realized that I was hungry again, even though I had eaten more than I ought to have at the Welcoming Feast tonight. Honestly, if I ate anymore I'd probably be the size of a blimp!

I decided to just skip lunch tomorrow in favor of eating now. Maybe breakfast, too, if I wasn't hungry again by then. Without bothering to put anything else on, as I was in my pajamas, I headed down to the kitchens.

When I entered, the light was almost blindingly bright. I blinked for a few moments before registering the fact that there were at least ten house-elves gathered around at my feet, asking if I wanted anything.

"Er, yes... May I just have a glass of milk and something small to go with it, please?" I requested, my eyes still adjusting. The house-elves quickly scampered off to get my food as I looked around, immediately realizing that Malfoy was sitting at the other end of the room, staring at me with an almost ridiculing expression on his face.

I crossed my arms as he smirked, "I wonder what you've been doing to get your hair looking like _that_."

I glared, realizing that my hair probably looked like a bird's nest, never mind the rest of me—I wore only a set of gold pajamas that Dom had given me for Christmas last year, thinking I would actually look _good_ in it, which I didn't. Honestly, I could make the most beautiful dress in the world look hideous, while Dom on the other hand could look stunning in a fucking _sack_.

Looking around for a place to sit, I saw that the only table in the room was the one Malfoy currently occupied. With a sigh, I walked over—coming my hair with my fingers self-consciously—and asked wearily, "May I sit?"

"You don't need to be so polite, Lily," Malfoy said, grinning devilishly. I was about to respond scathingly when the house-elves arrived with my food, bearing a glass of milk about the size of Hagrid's hand and several plates laden with cookies, finger sandwiches, and other various snacks. I laughed a little at the fact that they obviously had no idea what the word _small_ meant.

Thanking the house-elves and taking a sip of milk, I said awkwardly, "So... How're your classes?"

Circe, what had gotten into me? I was a generally outgoing person, always pulling pranks—which neither Albus nor most of my cousins had approved of, but James was quite proud of me the first time I got a detention for turning the Slytherins' skin an awful shade of green (how I was caught, I still don't know)—so I had no idea why I felt so strange talking to Malfoy. In fact, I spent most of my time harassing him, so talking to him shouldn't have been anything new.

"Good," he replied pleasantly. This was certainly a side of Malfoy that I had never seen. "I mean, I've at least been getting by. I can't concentrate in History of Magic anymore, but lately I've been doing pretty good in Potions. However, I can't say the same for Transfiguration... I swear, the lessons just keep getting harder. I accidentally transfigured Goyle's hair off last class..," Malfoy chuckled.

Malfoy had a flair for Potions, which may or may not have had something to do with the fact that our current teacher, Professor Burnett, adored him. Thankfully, though, he didn't have as much of a bias towards Gryffindor did, as my Uncle Ron had always told me Snape did. Aunt Hermione scolded him after he said that, because apparently Snape was on our side all along, but I have no doubt that he favored the Slytherins over other houses and had some kind of hate towards us Gryffindors. On the other hand, though, Professor Turner—the Transfiguration professor—wasn't such a ... _fan_ of Slytherin as Burnett was.

"I know what you mean," I told him. Inwardly, I was reeling with shock that Malfoy and I were seriously having a conversation. "Turner's been pushing us all to our limits. And with all the stress about NEWTs coming up next year, everyone's practically going mad—Emmy Thomas fainted in the middle of Conjuring Spells last week."

"Didn't she do that right before OWLs last year, too?" Malfoy asked, looking thoughtful.

I nodded. "Constantly stressed out, that girl is..."

"That reminds me of Carl Boyles. I think he's a bit too, well, _focused_ on his studies. I swear, you'll never see him without a textbook in his hand. Even during class—the teachers really get on his back about that," he laughed.

Glancing at my watch, I realized that it was nearly one in the morning and the food I'd gotten was untouched, yet I wasn't hungry anymore. However, I _did_ feel considerably exhausted and stood up. "Thanks for the conversation, Malfoy, but I've got to be getting back to bed. See you at breakfast."

Before anyone said anything else, I climbed back out of the kitchens and headed back to my dorms, falling fast asleep before my head even hit the pillow.


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: Thanks to capery for reviewing and to everyone who favorited/followed =)  
>I probably won't be updating this often in the future; I just wanted to get the first few chapters out pretty quickly, haha. Please review! I really appreciate it :)<strong>

**Disclaimer: I don't own HP or anything that goes with it.**

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><p>"Lily! LILY! WAKE UP!"<p>

I awoke to hear Dom yelling at me, faintly registering that it was morning now.

"LILY! GET UP! WE'RE FUCKING LATE FOR CLASS!"

I groaned in response.

"GOD, LILY! JUST GET UP!"

Opening my eyes blearily, I gave Dom my best glare, but I don't think it really worked well, seeing as I was still half asleep. "Why can't we just skive off?" I mumbled.

"At least you're awake now," Dom grumbled, dragging me out of bed. Still not wanting to get up, I attempted to get back into my nice, warm bed, but Dom pulled me back. "No way are we skiving off Transfiguration. Turner'll kill us..."

Sighing angrily, I got dressed, washed my face, and grabbed my bag as Dom and I rushed out of our now-empty dormitory into the deserted common room. We practically sprinted to the Transfiguration room, which was on the other end of the castle, arriving just barely on time. I saw Malfoy raise an eyebrow at my disheveled appearance, although I'm sure I looked miles better than I did the previous night. When I had been in my fourth year, I'd been given the opportunity to take my OWLs early, which I thankfully passed, and was the reason I was in Dom and Rose's year in the first place.

After a long, drawn-out recap of Conjuration, Turner gave us our assignment for today: to Conjure _Hogwarts, A History_ and then Vanish it. I achieved it just seconds before Malfoy did, giving him a triumphant smirk before realizing that we were actually on speaking terms. Malfoy just rolled his eyes at me.

Next to me, Dom finally managed to Conjure the book, although it looked a bit worn-out. When she attempted to Vanish it, however, the book _exploded_. Startled, I looked across the room to Malfoy, who was laughing his head off at our singed hair and eyebrows. I proceeded to correct Dom on her pronunciation and wand movements. Eventually, she got it, but not without causing the poor book to be set on fire a few times—although thankfully, it didn't explode again after the first time. I can't say that it wasn't a common occurrence, though.

When Transfiguration was finally over, we headed off to Herbology, albeit not before heading to the second floor bathroom to clean ourselves up a bit. Myrtle—still haunting that damned bathroom, ugh!—moaned about how _she_ couldn't do her makeup anymore.

During Herbology, Dom somehow got herself covered in some sort of slime, resulting in another visit to the girls' bathroom. Dom isn't a clumsy person or anything—in fact, she's one of the best in our year—but she usually manages to make herself look like a mess (a gorgeous mess, but still a mess) in Herbology.

As Dom and I made our way to lunch, I realized that I was absolutely ravenous. _So much for going on a diet_, I thought, laughing inwardly. I have absolutely no willpower and have never been able to stick to any of my resolutions, which Dom _still_ constantly nags me about.

I managed to devour a heaping plate of food in the twenty minutes that we were there, which earned me a raised eyebrow from Albus, who was a seventh-year Slytherin. I grinned in response.

After dinner, I headed off to the library, leaving Dom to go to the common room herself. She was probably making out with Evan in a broom closet somewhere anyways.

Burnett had given us way too much Potions homework. _Two_ _feet_ of writing on the qualities, effects, dangers, and ingredients of Polyjuice Potion. I'd known all this since second year—Al and I tried to pose as Avery and Goyle, Malfoy's best friends, in order to trick him into telling us something (to this day, I cannot remember _what_ it was that we wanted to know...) but I must've brewed it wrong, because all it did was turn my hair purple for a day, although my second batch turned out okay. Malfoy figured us out within minutes though, seeing as Al isn't much of an actor.

I was about seven inches from finishing the essay when I heard a snide voice say, "Hello, Lily. What's that you've got there?"

Slowly looking up and fixing him with my most menacing glare, I spat out, "Potions."

Malfoy smirked (which, in my opinion, he did _way_ too much). "Ah, Potions... Professor Burnett allowed us Slytherins to skip that, since so many of us have Quidditch practice..."

I glared at him. "Don't flaunt it, you arsehole..."

"What?" he grinned, knowing full well what I meant. Even _he_ couldn't be oblivious to Burnett's blatant favoritism, despite his pea-sized brain.

I huffed and started on the essay again, ignoring his presence. I could feel him staring at me, his eyes burning holes into my head. Finally, I snapped. "_What_, Malfoy?"

He smiled innocently and said in a playful tone, "I wasn't doing anything..."

Rolling my eyes, I went back to work, but I could still feel him staring at me. Eventually, he said, "Well, Lily, it's been absolutely _lovely_ speaking to you"—his voice was just _dripping_ with sarcasm—"but we've got Quidditch practice in twenty minutes, so I'll be off."

I shrugged. "Bye." After a moment, however, I yelled, "HEY! _We_ have Quidditch practice in twenty minutes!"

At this, Malfoy turned around and smirked. "Not anymore."

Fuming, I gathered my things and headed up to the Gryffindor common room. Being captain of the Quidditch team was a right pain in the arse when you had people like _Malfoy_ to deal with. I scowled as I entered, seeing the whole team getting ready to head down to the pitch.

"Sorry, guys," I bit out, "Looks like Malfoy's taken the pitch from us tonight."

Rose Weasley, one of my many cousins and best Chasers, fumed, "That little git... I'll _kill_ him..."

Dom, who was a Beater, growled, "Well, now I know what you mean when you say you hate him." The other Beater, Aidan Price, didn't really seem to care.

Roxy—yet _another_ cousin—and her friend Jenny Lacewell, the other two Chasers on the team, were fuming as well, but not quite as much Dom and Rose. Our Keeper, Fred, on the other hand, was furious. "That piece of shit! How do you even let him do this? I swear, he does this at least once a month and you never do _anything_ about it!" he yelled, earning quite a few strange looks from others in the common room. He glared at the ground as he paced angrily from the fireplace to the comfortable couch that we stood next to.

"Okay, okay, I know we're all upset," I tried to reason, "But is this really anything new? We'll just have to put up with it for now. Practice is postponed 'till tomorrow night, same time. I'll try to speak to McGonagall tomorrow. All right?"

Everyone nodded, although Dom, Rose, and Fred, still seemed pretty angry. I sat down and finished my Potions essay as Dom and Rose headed up to our dorm, still seething with anger. No doubt as soon as they got upstairs and cast a silencing charm on the door, they'd start ranting about how goddamned awful Malfoy is. I supposed it would be best to avoid that...

With a sigh, I headed upstairs as I shoved my things in my bag. Hopefully this wouldn't be _too_ painful... But who knew? When Dom and Rose got mad, things got _messy._


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: Okay, I'm really, really sorry that I haven't updated in a while. My dad had to borrow my laptop for a business trip and he just got back today. So here's chapter 3, the next one is coming really soon! By the way, I know this chapter is a bit shorter than the others and sort of a filler, but it does matter in the end! Thanks to capery and Allways-happy for reviewing and to everyone who favorited/followed this! By the way.. I _really_ appreciate any reviews I get. No matter how short... ;) Enjoy!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own HP or anything that goes with it.**

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><p>"... and in 1794, Goblins attempted to invade the Middle East," Professor Binns droned listlessly. I sighed and continued taking notes, getting sleepier by the minute.<p>

The next thing I knew, Dom was shaking me awake, saying, "Lily! You fell asleep! What's gotten into you? You've never fallen asleep during class before..."

I blinked. I'd fallen asleep? "Really?"

"Yeah," Dom laughed, "You're still drooling a bit—here—"

With a scowl, I slapped her hand away from my face, wiping my face just in case there actually was drool there.

"Did I miss anything?" I asked anxiously.

"Nah," Dom said. "After you fell asleep Annette Orwell got hexed by Goyle and ended up having to go to the Hospital Wing. Binns couldn't really control anyone after that... It's a wonder you didn't get hit, honestly..."

We continued to chat on the way to the Great Hall for dinner. When we passed the Slytherin table, Malfoy winked at me for some strange reason.

"Maybe he saw you drooling today," Dom joked. I glared at her in response.

As we reached our table and sat down in our usual place, I saw Malfoy staring at me, all the way across the room. Right when I looked up, he averted his gaze, but a blush—very faint, unlike mine, which is an unfortunate Weasley family trait—crept into his cheeks as he returned to his dinner.

With a frown, I began getting food from the massive platters all over the table. However, I just couldn't bring myself to eat so much anymore; I just didn't feel hungry.

While I sat there, picking at my food, Dom nudged me. "What's with you? You usually eat enough to satisfy a giant."

I glared at her. "I'm not hungry today," I said in an irritated tone.

Dom had known me for long enough to know not to say anything, so she simply went back to eating her own food. From across the table, Rose—who never did understand me quite as well as Dom—said, "Well, if Lily isn't hungry, then there's _definitely_ something wrong."

I rolled my eyes. "Whatever, Rose."

She shrugged and started talking with Roxy, who was, quite honestly, a bit of a gossip.

"You know Scorpius Malfoy? I think I might ask him out for the next Hogsmeade weekend..," she told Roxy with a grin.

"_Scorpius_?" Roxy said. "But... Uncle Ron would be so angry with you! You _know_ he hates the Malfoys more than anyone!"

Rose shrugged. "He'll just have to get over himself, I guess. I've liked Scorpius for a long time. It's just that I never told anyone."

Something about their conversation made me feel strange, almost sick inside. Rose? With Scorpius? It just didn't seem right.

"Are you sure you want to be involved with _Malfoy_, of all people?" I asked her a bit rudely. What had gotten into me?

"If I do, it's none of your business, Lily," Rose responded haughtily. "I think he likes me. Besides, he's been staring over here—probably at me—for the past twenty minutes." She looked over my shoulder, presumably at the spot where Malfoy sat.

My insides squirmed with discomfort at this. I wasn't sure why, but the thought of Malfoy liking her made me upset, maybe even angry. But I pushed those feelings aside as Dom got up to head back to the common room. I rose with her, grabbing my bag and striding briskly away, with Dom at my side.

"What was _that_ all about?" Dom asked with a raised eyebrow. (I've always been jealous of how she can do that; I've never been able to figure it out.)

"Nothing," I said, simply because I didn't know.

"It didn't seem like nothing to me."

"What do you mean?"

"I _mean_, it seemed like you were being protective of him or something," Dom said, grinning. "You _don't_ like him, do you?"

"Yeah, right," I laughed. "Malfoy? He's such a shit, I don't know how even _Rose_ likes him."

"As I said before... He's fit."

I snorted. "Whatever, Dom. I'm sure Evan would be pleased to hear that..."

We continued our banter until we reached the portrait hole, where I muttered, "_Felix Felicis_," and we climbed through as it swung open.

Ugh, Hugo and Elizabeth Whitby were snogging on the couch for all to see. I hoped that at least they'd take it to the boy's dorms next, because everyone knew that Elizabeth shagged anything with a... well, _you know_. What a slut.

Dom gagged. "Wait till Rose sees this."

"I doubt she will; by the time she gets here, they'll both be up in the boy's dorms, doing Circe-knows-what."

At that moment, Hugo and Elizabeth—still snogging—stumbled up the stairs to Hugo's dorm. About a minute later, Rose and Roxy came in, and it seemed that they were still gossiping.

I rolled my eyes. "Those two would never stop gossiping if it weren't for classes and the fact that they need to sleep."

"Probably," Dom snorted.

Rose shot us a glare. "At least _I'm_ not too scared to admit that I like Scorpius Malfoy."

"I do _NOT_ like Malfoy! He's... he's..." I spluttered, my face turning scarlet, "He's an arrogant, rude toerag!"

I suppose I was taking a leaf out of my grandmother's book there, but it was true! He really _was_, all right?

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><p><strong>AN: Please, please, PLEASE review, I really do appreciate it!**


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N: I swear, the chapters keep getting shorter and shorter. Don't worry, though, I'll make sure they're quite a bit longer soon. =D I just felt like this was a good place to cut off. Thanks to bets2010, Allways-happy, capery, and Elihhn for the lovely reviews and everyone who favorited/followed this! By the way, I'm not going to be updating this often in the future. A new chapter _should _be up at least every few days, though. Please please please review!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own HP or anything that goes with it.**

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><p>Did I like Malfoy?<p>

What a horrifying thought. Never could I ever... I mean, _Malfoy_? I'd rather go out with a giant squid.

Maybe he could be a decent person sometimes, but honestly! He was generally just... an arsehole.

He probably thought he was charming and witty and handsome but in reality, he was none of them (all right, I'll have to give him the last one—he _did_ look really good...)

Well, if he tried to hit on me again, I'd —

My thoughts were interrupted as Rose started screaming her head off at Hugo, who had just emerged from the boys' dorms, having probably just had sex with Elizabeth, and snogging her yet again. If Elizabeth were less of a slut, I'd think they were almost an item.

"YOU HAD SEX WITH THAT _WHORE_? YOU'RE FIFTEEN! YOU SHOULD REALLY KNOW BETTER THAN THAT, HUGO WEASLEY! DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA WHAT KIND OF DISEASES SHE COULD HAVE GIVEN YOU? YOU DON'T KNOW _WHERE_ SHE'S BEEN—"

"Hey!" Elizabeth exclaimed, looking offended. (Which she had a right to be, but what Rose was saying _was_ true...) "Who're you calling a whore?"

Rose ignored her, continuing to yell, "WHAT IF YOU'D GOTTEN HER PREGNANT? THEN WHERE WOULD YOU BE, HUGO? WOULD YOU WANT TO RAISE A CHILD ALL BY YOURSELF?"

Again, Elizabeth interjected, "I use a Contraceptive Charm every time! I'm not _stupid_!"

"ANYWAYS, WHY WOULD YOU WANT TO GET YOURSELF INVOLVED WITH A SLUT LIKE THAT? MAYBE SHE'S ATTRACTIVE, BUT I DOUBT SHE'S WORTH IT!" Rose continued to scream. Hugo looked considerably shocked. Rose certainly had Grandma Molly's temper. "Besides," she said, her voice suddenly returning to a normal volume, "The summer before fifth year she tried some Muggle thing called plastic surgery, which is why she looked so supposedly gorgeous when she came back. And I'm pretty sure she got her boobs done, too."

Elizabeth stared at her in shock. "I didn't know anyone knew about that," she whispered.

Rose laughed. "Everyone knew. It was obvious. Except to the boys, I suppose; they're oblivious to everything except for how 'hot' a girl is."

Suddenly, a first year yelled, "Haha, Elizabeth Whitby has fake boobs!"

Needless to say, the news had spread like wildfire amongst those who hadn't already known, and Elizabeth didn't show her face for days.

Dom and I were walking down to dinner, still laughing about the incident when Albus approached us. "Hey, Dom... Can I speak to Lily privately for a moment?"

Dom nodded and turned to me, saying, "Meet me at our usual spot?" I nodded.

"What is it, Al?" I asked.

"Do you... Do you like Scorp?"

"Where'd you get _that_ idea from?" I exclaimed. _I_ wasn't even sure that I liked him.

"I don't know... Never mind," he said, walking away. I stood there, staring after him, puzzled.

"Where did _that_ come from?" I muttered to myself as I headed towards the Gryffindor table. Dom waved me over from where she sat.

When I took a seat at the table, she asked, "So, what did Al want to talk to you about?"

"He thinks I like Malfoy some reason. Crazy, that one is..," I told her, rolling my eyes.

Dom laughed. "_Everyone_ thinks you like Malfoy. _You're_ the crazy one if you don't believe you do."

"What do you mean?" I asked her.

She shrugged. "It's all in the way you look at him. It's the same way, say... _Rose_ would."

I gaped at her, horrified. "Like _Rose_? No way. She's practically obsessive!"

"Sorry, but it's true! That's exactly how you look at him. All the time," Dom grinned.

"Well," I said haughtily, "I'll have you know that I never have and never will like Scorpius Malfoy. I don't know what Rose sees in him. Other than his good looks, but that doesn't count."

"I think that's all there is to him," Lucy laughed from next to us.

I laughed. "Very true."

After dinner, having stuffed myself once again—it's a wonder I wasn't morbidly obese—Dom and I headed back up to Gryffindor Tower. Once again, we were stopped.

This time, it was by none other than Scorpius Malfoy.

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><p><strong>AN: Don't forget to review! I really appreciate it. (:**


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N: Okay, I'm not going to clutter up your PM inboxes with my "Thank you for reviewing"s because that's a waste of time, quite frankly. I'll just say it here instead. :D Thanks so much to everyone who reviewed, favorited, or followed Canary Creams!  
><strong>**Enjoy!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own HP. Duh. **

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><p>"Hi Lily, Dom," Malfoy said awkwardly.<p>

"Um... Hi, Malfoy," I replied, feeling my heart speed up a bit for some reason.

"Er, could I maybe talk to you in private?" he asked. When I nodded, Dom raised her eyebrows at me suggestively, to which I responded by rolling my eyes. She grinned and walked in the direction of Gryffindor Tower.

Malfoy didn't even notice our silent exchange; he was looking at the ground, the wall, the ceiling—in fact, it seemed to be anywhere but me.

"What did you need, Malfoy?"

"I... er..," Malfoy stammered. "I was wondering if you wanted to go to Hogsmeade with me this weekend? You know, since it's coming up...?"

I gaped at him. Was _Scorpius Malfoy_, of all people, asking me out?

"Are you... are you being serious?"

"I—I mean, if you aren't interested..," he mumbled, failing to mask the disappointment that crossed his face.

"God, that came out wrong. Sorry, Malfoy, I thought you were playing a prank on me or something," I immediately apologized. "But I'd love to."

Suddenly, he burst out laughing. "Oh my god, Weasley, I can't believe you fell for it!" Malfoy gasped between fits of hysterical laughter. "I can't believe you'd actually take me seriously!"

_I shouldn't have let him fool me like that_, I thought angrily to myself. Was it bad that I'd gotten my hopes up so much? "I only accepted out of _pity_, Malfoy, since you looked so, well... _pitiful_," I told him quite rudely, "Perhaps you should consider becoming an actor—that was pretty convincing. Although it's not hard to imagine you like that, in all honesty."

Malfoy was now on the ground, unable to stop laughing. I doubted he had even heard a single thing I'd said. Rolling my eyes, I strode away.

A little part of me wished that it had been real. But I pushed it aside—I was just being stupid.

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><p>"What did Malfoy want?" Dom asked when I finally climbed through the portrait hole.<p>

"He played a fucking _prank_ on me," I told her, sounding more angry than I was. "He asked me out—he looked so nervous, I actually felt bad for him—and when I said yes, he just started laughing and told me he couldn't believe I fell for it."

"What an asshole," Dom said a bit too loudly. A couple of first years looked at us a little strangely.

"Too true," I grumbled, still annoyed with him for his behavior.

"Well, you can always—" Dom began, but I never found out what I could always do because at that moment, the sound of a loud explosion and several loud screams came from the boys' dorms.

I snickered. "They sound like girls..."

As it turned out, they _were_, in fact, girls. Apparently some fourth years had tried to prank some Hugo and his friends, although it didn't really work out—they had some of Uncle George's new line of exploding snacks. The moment you touched one, it exploded, covering you in some kind of ash that stayed on you and your clothes for days, no matter what you tried to do to fix it. That man is a genius, honestly.

Being a prefect, I took ten points from each of them and confiscated the box of snacks, although I kept them to use on Malfoy sometime. Maybe they'd come in handy.

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><p>"GIRLS! IT'S TIME FOR... TRUTH OR DARE!" yelled Dom enthusiastically. Rose, Jenny, and I all groaned. Truth or Dare with Dom was always terrible (although I must admit it was fun)—she always managed to nick some Veritaserum from Circe-knows-where, and the dares she gave were absolutely awful. You never really won when you played with Dom.<p>

"Me first!" she cried. I sighed as she said, "I pick Lily! Truth or dare?"

With a sigh, I muttered, "Truth." _I_ didn't have any secrets, as far as I knew...

"Who do you fancy?" she asked with a devilish grin after forcing me to drink a few drops of Veritaserum—it lasted just long enough for one question.

In a daze, as one usually is when taking that goddamned potion, I responded, "Scorpius Malfoy."

As the effects wore off, I realized what I'd just said. "Wait, WHAT?" I nearly yelled.

Dom was smirking evilly. "I knew it. You like Scorpius Malfoy."

"Are you sure that was Veritaserum, Dom? Because I certainly do _not_ fancy that little git," I told her, irritated.

"Yep! I got it from Burnett myself—he loves me—and he thinks that I'm doing a special project on the effects of Veritaserum on people and animals. I'll say that a first year stole it from me or something," Dom said proudly.

"Don't you think you might get caught?" I questioned her.

She shrugged, "Nah, I've been doing it for ages. Burnett says that first years really must not have any respect, seeing as they keep taking it from me over and over again."

Before anyone could say anything else, she yelled, "LILY! IT'S YOUR TURN!"

Rolling my eyes, I turned to Rose, saying, "Rose. Truth or dare?"

"Dare," she responded confidently.

"All right," I said, thinking. "I dare you to go up to Zabini and kiss him on the lips for as long as he'll let you. You can't be the one to break it off."

"That _brute_? No way!" Rose exclaimed, horrified.

"Too bad, you chose dare!" I said smugly.

Rose glared at me, still fuming. This was what usually happened anyways; Rose seemed to have plenty of secrets to keep, so she always chose dare, resulting in her humiliation the following day.

"I promise I'll make sure you do it tomorrow. At breakfast," I said.

Pouting a bit, Rose went back to Dom. Jenny looked relieved—Rose's questions and dares were almost worse than Dom's. "Dom, truth or dare?"

Thoughtfully, Dom responded, "Hmm... truth."

After giving her some Veritaserum, Rose asked, "If you had the chance, would you shag Yaxley?"

Dom, who had played this game so many times that she was used to the cloudiness the potion filled your mind with, responded, "Yeah. He may be an arsehole, but he's _fit_."

Then, she said, "Jenny, truth or dare?" She groaned.

"Truth..," she said, almost hesitantly.

I gave her a few drops of Veritaserum before Dom asked, "Who do _you_ fancy?" She didn't seem very creative tonight.

"Albus Potter..," she mumbled.

I wasn't surprised. She looked at him, I suppose, the way Dom said I looked at Malfoy.

"Well, well," Dom grinned. "After my cousin, eh? Don't worry, he likes you too—I've seen him staring at you." Jenny blushed.

Her cheeks still a bit pink, Jenny asked me the question, and this time I decided on a dare. With Jenny, it usually wasn't too bad.

"I dare you to steal the Sorting Hat from McGonagall's office tomorrow night at dinner."

"What?" I said without thinking. Dom and Rose gaped at her. Jenny wasn't usually this... well, mischievous.

"If you don't, you get the usual punishment..," she told me, grinning devilishly.

"Well, Dom," I said, "Looks like you've passed all of your good ideas down to Jenny tonight." She rolled her eyes.

"Whatever, Lily. At least _I'm_ not the one who has to steal the Sorting Hat from McGonagall. How the fuck are you supposed to get away with _that_?"

"I don't know," I told her, "But I'll figure it out."

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><p>The next day at breakfast, the four of us—well, the three of us, as Rose wasn't looking forward to it much—were beside ourselves with laughter at the prospect of innocent little Rosie making out with Zabini (what an ugly thing; it'd be a wonder if he actually found someone desperate enough to marry him) in front of everyone.<p>

"C'mon, Rose! You can do it!" We called after her as she strode over to the Slytherin table, her face already beet red.

Poor Rose approached Zabini with caution—you could never be sure when that brute would blow up at you or something; the littlest things set him off—and tapped him on the shoulder, saying something we couldn't make out. The Hall seemed suddenly quiet; even the teachers seemed to be watching their exchange.

Zabini got up and seemed a bit taken aback when Rose suddenly kissed him. Dom, Jenny, and I all burst out laughing, everyone else staring at us for a moment before going back to watching Rose and Zabini with wide eyes.

Surprisingly enough, he didn't stop her. They continued kissing—I really felt bad for Rose this time; he was slobbering all over her face—until Uncle Neville (although I should really call him Professor Longbottom) had to come down and break them up with a stern look at Rose. She looked understandably embarrassed.

She hurried back to our table as Zabini sat down again, looking _very_ satisfied. Rose had to conjure a napkin to wipe her face off, looking at us disgustedly.

"Thanks a lot, guys," she said, giving us a furious glare. "That was the worst experience of my fucking _life_."

"You're welcome," I responded cheekily.

Already, people were whispering about Rose and Zabini. I giggled, and Rose looked horrified at the rumors of what they'd done—"I walked in on them shagging in that third floor classroom yesterday!"—although we all knew that everyone would forget all about it by tomorrow; no doubt, there would be a new scandal that everyone was talking about by then.

Throughout the day, whenever I thought of Rose I began laughing; this earned me some confused looks from others, and a stern glare from Professor Turner when I started laughing in the middle of her lecture. However, at the same time, I was trying to think of a way to break into McGonagall's office.

All prefects knew the password to get there, in case of an emergency, but McGonagall had about a million different protective charms on her office, and if one of them was set off she would be alerted immediately. I knew the charms that she'd used, but I didn't know how to get past them—it was nearly impossible, unless you had her permission. Somehow, the wards knew when you did and let you through just as easily as any other door would.

My only option was to, well... _ask_.

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><p><strong>AN: Ooh... What's going to happen next?  
>I'm giving you a sneak peek at the next chapter tonight. Maybe it'll persuade more of you to review...<strong>

_"She raised an eyebrow. 'And what is this _thing _that you need to do, Miss Potter?'_

_'IneedtostealtheSortingHat,' I muttered quickly._

_'Pardon me?' Professor McGonagall asked, sounding strangely formal._

_'I... er, need to steal the Sorting Hat.'"_

**Thanks for reading, everyone! Don't forget to leave a review! (:**


	6. Chapter 6

**A/N: Tsk, tsk. I'm disappointed in all of you! There are fourteen of you who have this on your alert lists, yet I only get _four_ reviews? Maybe I'm getting my hopes too high. Here's a relatively short chapter for you; next one'll be coming soon enough. Enjoy!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own HP.**

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><p>"Yes, Miss Potter?" Professor McGonagall asked.<p>

I stood in her office, which was elegant and organized, unlike how it was during Dumbledore's time, as my dad told me—apparently it was a bit of a mess. At least, it probably was, compared to McGonagall's. I could feel the portraits on the wall staring at me. Of course, I was Harry Potter's daughter, so why not? It seems that common sense to most people, apparently, to gawk at me just because he's my dad. I suppose the portraits thought so too.

"Er, Professor... My friends dared me to do something last night and if I don't something rather _unpleasant_ is going to happen to me," I told her.

She raised an eyebrow. "And what is this thing that you need to do, Miss Potter?"

"IneedtostealtheSortingHat," I muttered quickly.

"Pardon me?" Professor McGonagall asked, sounding strangely formal.

"I... er, need to steal the Sorting Hat."

Professor McGonagall stared at me thoughtfully, before finally giving me a wry smile. "Well, as long as it spares you the _unpleasant_ experience, feel free to. When are you supposed to be... _doing_ this?"

I gaped at her. "You're... you're actually _letting_ me?" I managed to get out.

"Why, of course," she said a calm smile on her face now. "In my time, whenever we played a game similar to the one you participated in, whoever did not comply with whatever requirements there were was forced to either humiliate themselves in some way or be on the receiving end of a hex that left boils in a rather nasty place."

After a moment, I finally said, "Well, thank you, Professor... I'm supposed to do it tonight, at dinner."

She nodded brusquely, "My wards will be open to you, and you will be free to take it, but I would like it back by tomorrow evening, before dinner is over."

Before I left, I managed to get out a shaky, "T-thank you, Professor."

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><p>I missed dinner that night. I'm sure it did me some good though, since I've been eating way too much lately. By the end of dinner I had the hat and was anxiously waiting for the girls in our dorm. I still couldn't believe McGonagall had actually let me just take it; I'd expected her to be violently opposed to allowing a student to do such a thing for a dare, of all things.<p>

_Well_, I thought, _At least Jenny can't charm my hair into turning green. Or give me purple facial hair... Or make me sweat profusely for the next two days. Eugh._

Looking at the old and worn Sorting Hat, I put it back on my head, although why I did this I wasn't sure.

_Ah, Lily Potter,_ it said dryly. _You always did have the potential to be a truly great Slytherin—perhaps a Ravenclaw, but I believe Slytherin really would have fit you better—but there seems to be something with you Potters and Slytherin; James Potter was practically begging me not to put him in Slytherin, as did your father._

I laughed out loud, remembering how worried Albus was before his first year at Hogwarts. My dad, though, I couldn't imagine. I was about to say something to the Sorting Hat when I looked to see Rose, Jenny, and Dom walk in, expressions of shock on all of their faces.

Jenny—who seemed the most surprised of them all—stared at me, her face a mixture of surprise, confusion, and admiration. "You actually _did_ it?" She managed to get out after a few moments.

I grinned. "It wasn't hard, actually. McGonagall's wards let me in for some odd reason, so I just went in and took it." I didn't want to say that she'd let me take it—if I did, they'd probably make me do something far worse to make up for "cheating."

Dom's shocked look suddenly turned into a frown. "Damn, I was really looking forward to seeing you with a purple beard..."

"Well, we all knew you'd do it somehow," Rose told me, finally recovering.

"Yeah, right," I rolled my eyes. "You three looked so shocked when you came in, it'd be really hard to believe that you'd been expecting it all along."

Rose smiled guiltily. "Sorry."

I laughed. "You guys need to have more confidence in me!"

The other three grinned sheepishly. "So," I asked finally, "What exactly are we going to _do_ with the Sorting Hat?"

"I hadn't really thought about that," Jenny admitted. "I just wanted to see if you could do it. Now that you've said it, though..."

_You know_, said the Sorting Hat, who was still perched on top of my head, _I've always been good for a bit of fun..._

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><p>The next day, our plan went into action. The Sorting Hat was, thankfully, safely in McGonagall's office, but we were all practically bouncing in excitement. I'm sure that if it were there, it would have enjoyed the scene immensely. Not to say that it had any kind of bias, though.<p>

Within minutes of breakfast beginning, all of the Slytherins (except Albus; we warned him ahead of time) had sprouted hideous, peanut-shaped boils all over their faces in red and gold, and many of them had gold hair with red streaks in it. A few Slytherins—I guess Slytherins just don't like porridge—had scarlet eyes and skin, while several others were floating three feet in the air.

They all stopped eating immediately, although I saw someone tentatively take a bite out of a piece of bread—he probably thought it was just the pumpkin juice—and there was a loud crack and the air around him was filled with red and gold confetti. When he tried to swat the pieces away, they bit him and followed him around wherever he went.

Professor McGonagall looked at me sternly, but I could see the smile pulling at her lips.

The four of us burst out laughing, as did everyone else, excluding the Slytherins and most of the teachers. I could see Professor Longbottom shaking with suppressed laughter out of the corner of my eye and grinned at him from where I sat.

On our way out of the Great Hall, I felt a tap on my shoulder. A red-and-gold-boil-covered Malfoy leered down at me; he was at least a foot taller than me. Ugh, everyone always did say I was short.

"Nice one, Potter," he said with a glare. "Now, how do you fix all of this shit?"

With a giggle, I replied, "You don't," and leaving him staring at me openmouthed in shock, Rose, Dom, Jenny, and I headed to Herbology with grins on all of our faces.

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><p><strong>AN: Please review! I love constructive criticism.. and really, anything else you'd like to leave me. =) Hehe.. Thanks for reading!**


	7. Chapter 7

**A/N: Sorry for not updating quickly, I've been a bit busy.. Thanks to everyone who reviewed, I really do appreciate it!  
>This chapter isn't exactly the longest one, of course, but I really hope you like it! :D<strong>

**Disclaimer: Oh, I _wish_ I owned Harry Potter... **

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><p>Most of the Slytherins had figured it out by dinner the next night. We'd put some charms on the food—with the house-elves' help, I might add; they really did love me—specifically for Slytherin House that would cause their skin to turn red and their hair gold with red streaks (simple glamour charms) and boils (some of Weasley's Wizard Wheezes' latest products, with a few modifications) on their faces, as well as the various other things we'd pulled off.<p>

I still couldn't believe that we hadn't gotten in trouble or anything. In fact, I was called to McGonagall's office that night, and I really thought I was in for it. But she had actually sent for me to congratulate me on my '_superb_ magic.' She may be stern, but I guess McGonagall has a fun side after all.

We were walking out of the Great Hall when we saw Zabini walking towards us. Rose groaned.

"Hey, Rosie," he sneered. "Fancy another kiss before you go to bed?"

Rose gagged. "No chance in hell, Zabini."

"I know you want me," he said smugly, "Why else would you have kissed me in the Great Hall the other day?"

"Ugh, I would never kiss you _voluntarily_," Rose scoffed. "It was a dare. And for your information, it was the worst kiss I've ever had. Ever."

"Yeah, right, Weasley," Zabini said, the smug look still on his face. "I know you want me. You just won't admit it in front of your friends. Meet me in the Astronomy Tower at midnight." With that, he strode off.

I rolled my eyes. "What an arrogant little shit... It's not like he's had girls falling all over him; honestly, he's repulsive!"

Rose grinned. "I'd love to see his face when I don't show up tonight..."

"He shouldn't expect it anyways," said Dom. "Besides, a girl would have to be insanely desperate to hook up with _him_..."

Jenny nodded. "I don't think even Liz Whitby would shag him."

"Hmm, I don't know," I said thoughtfully, "with her track record..."

* * *

><p>On my way to Charms, I saw Rose talking to Malfoy in the halls. An awful, ugly feeling rose up in me as I watched them talk, Rose smiling and Malfoy smirking triumphantly for some odd reason. I decided I really didn't want to know and went on walking.<p>

In the middle of class, I received a note from Rose. Although I wasn't sure I wanted to, I brought myself to look at the bit of parchment covered in her ridiculously neat handwriting.

_I asked Scorpius to go to Hogsmeade with me today!_ it read. _And... He said yes! I'm so excited... It's like a dream come true._

Dom was reading over my shoulder as I realized that I was _jealous_. Jealous of Rose, jealous because she was going to Hogsmeade with Malfoy. I felt sick. But why? Malfoy had pretty much been the bane of my existence since... Since always. Why was this bothering me _now_? And why did I even like him? It wasn't like he'd ever actually been _nice_ to me.

Before I could think about it any more, Dom prodded my arm and hissed, "Aren't you going to say something?"

"Er, yeah," I mumbled. Pointing my wand at the parchment, I wiped her words off and replaced them with my own before sending it back to her: _I'm so happy for you, Rose! The next Hogsmeade weekend is in two weeks, right?_

Even on paper, the words sounded so false. But in a flash, the note was back: _Yes! I can't wait!_ said the neat script on the parchment, and I really wanted to be happy for Rose; she'd wanted this for so long. But instead, I felt bitter. Bitter, angry, and jealous. I just didn't know why.

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><p>It was finally the Hogsmeade weekend, and Rose had convinced me to come with her and be with her on her date. I didn't even remember agreeing to this; the past two weeks had all been a blur. Rose seemed to have forgotten that I liked Malfoy, though; she'd been too absorbed in preparing for the date and mooning over him.<p>

We headed to the Three Broomsticks, where Rose was supposed to meet Malfoy. He wasn't there yet, so she sat down at a table for two, while I took a seat in a booth not too far away.

Ten, fifteen, thirty minutes passed. Malfoy didn't show. Rose looked absolutely crestfallen, and I couldn't help but feel awful for her, although somewhere deep inside me I felt relieved.

Tears poured down Rose's face. "I c-can't b-believe he s-stood me up," she hiccuped, sobbing in despair. We got up and started to head back to the castle. "W-what a f-fucking shit!" she yelled, which earned us funny looks from some of the couples walking through Hogsmeade.

I patted her back comfortingly. "I know, Rose, I know. Haven't I always told you that he's nothing but an arrogant little ferret?"

"Yeah, b-but... he w-was always so, s-so sweet to me and charming... So n-nice. I t-thought he fancied me. I a-always t-thought, maybe h-he really did f-fancy me..." Rose stuttered sadly.

Suddenly, she turned on me, giving me her patented death glare. We were halfway to Hogwarts by then, so there weren't as many people, but it was bad place to be screamed at by Rose Weasley all the same. "YOU MUST FEEL HAPPY, DON'T YOU? YOU'VE LIKED HIM ALL ALONG, YOU BITCH! I'LL BET YOU WERE HOPING FOR THIS THE WHOLE TIME, YOU PROBABLY SABOTAGED OUR WHOLE DATE!" Rose's tear-stained face was twisted with rage and I was shocked by her sudden anger with me.

"What?" I managed to say in disbelief. "Rose, you _know_ I wouldn't do something like that to you, much less feel happy because of your pain. I'm not a sadist, you know."

She glared at me, her voice becoming deathly quiet. "Ever since this year started, you've liked him, haven't you? You've always been jealous... Jealous of me..."

"No, Rose!" I exclaim. The part about me being jealous was true, but only since she asked him out and I realized my feelings for him. "I didn't even know I liked him until that game of truth or dare... And even now, I'm not sure." The last part was a blatant lie, and Rose saw right through it.

"You lying bitch," she hissed at me. Then, she slapped me across the face, storming away through the snow, leaving me standing there in shock and cradling my stinging cheek.

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><p><strong>AN: Ooh, drama... What'll happen next? :D There's only one way to find out... REVIEW! (Please do, I really appreciate it. xD)**


	8. Chapter 8

**A/N: Thanks to those of you who reviewed for last chapter, and about Malfoy's reasons for standing Rose up... That's for me to know and you to find out. That'll be later, though... ;) Enjoy!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own HP, and I never ever will.**

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><p>Rose refused to speak to me after that. I noticed, however, that Malfoy completely ignored her, although he looked horribly smug after that Hogsmeade weekend.<p>

Dom, at least, still talked to me. And Jenny, of course, but she's always been closer to Rose, so I guess she just wasn't sure about whose side to be on in all of that.

Every day, seeing Malfoy in my classes and at meals just continued to infuriate me; I couldn't help but think of how he had hurt Rose. How he'd crushed her hopes, her dream, her heart...

At breakfast about a week later, I finally confronted him. Walking up to the Slytherin table, I could feel the eyes of everyone in the Great Hall on me.

"I can't believe what you did to Rose," I spat. "Do you know how _hurt_ she was? I knew you were an awful little shit, but I didn't know you'd stoop _this_ low."

"Isn't she furious at you now?" he retorted, smirking as usual. "That's what I heard; I heard she said you were jealous that she was going to Hogsmeade with me. Is that right, Lilykins? Were you jealous that you weren't the one going out with me?"

"Fuck you," I hissed, turning on my heel and leaving. Behind me, I could hear people whispering, obviously gossiping about what had just happened.

No matter what my feelings for Malfoy might have been, nothing excused how he had behaved with Rose. He'd hurt my friend, although she probably didn't think of me that way anymore. He had broken her heart, and that was absolutely unforgivable.

At dinner, Rose approached me and said, "Thanks, Lily. I really didn't mean anything I said that day, I was just so angry that he'd stood me up that I just let it all out on you. And I'm sorry I've been so awful to you since then, I suppose I just blamed you for everything that happened. I know you'd never be so awful to me, especially not over a _boy_... I've just been so stupid, Lily. Will you forgive me?"

I smiled and hugged her, glad to have her back. "I know, Rose. It's all right."

With a jolt, I noticed that the whole Hall had gone silent, watching our exchange. _Why can't people just mind their own fucking business?_ I thought, annoyed.

As I glared at everyone in sight, conversations began to slowly start up again, but people were still glancing at us furtively, as if we might blow up at any moment or something.

"I'm glad you two have finally made up," Dom said happily, "because now we can finally play truth or dare again!"

Great.

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><p>We never did get to play truth or dare that night. Instead, Malfoy chose to harass poor Rose, but why he did it <em>then<em> I still don't know.

"Oi, Weasley!" We all turned around to face him, scowls on all of our faces.

"What, Malfoy?" Rose spat angrily.

He smirked. "Still in love with me, Weasley?" Rose turned an angry shade of crimson at his words, looking as if she wanted to punch him. "Sorry about standing you up the other day, I decided I had better things to do that day than have you swoon all over me."

In a flash, we had all hexed him; it was _not_ pretty.

I had hit him with a Tickling Hex, and his face had swelled up, due to Dom's Stinging Hex, which she was well-known for. Jenny was probably the one who had caused antlers to sprout from his head, as Rose was the one who usually hit people with Bat-Bogey Hexes...

Looking back at him, I almost felt bad. He was curled in a ball on the ground, wincing in pain yet laughing at the same time, and he looked awful. But he deserved it, honestly.

At breakfast the next morning, I heard people gossiping: "Did you hear? Someone found Scorpius Malfoy last night, he was in such a state... Apparently someone hit him with a Tickling Hex, a Stinging Hex, Bat-Bogey Hex, _and_ the Anteoculatia Hex! They really must have been out to get him..."

I smirked, listening to the conversations.

"Yeah, I heard that he was pretty messed up... Someone said that he'd be in the Hospital Wing for at least a month! Whoever cast the Bat-Bogey Hex was pretty damn good at it..." Rose beamed after hearing this.

"I heard Peony Parkinson was the one who did it, someone told me they had a spat last week," another person said.

"I still think it was Rose Weasley. After all, Malfoy _did_ stand her up last Hogsmeade weekend..." Rose stiffened.

"Yeah, right. Weasley's more the quiet, bookish type. I doubt she'd actually hex someone; she'd probably be too scared to get in trouble," sneered a familiar voice.

We turned around to see Malfoy smirking at us, but we were puzzled. Didn't he see us hex him? Didn't he remember?

"Out already, Malfoy?" I asked.

He gave me an unreadable look. "I've been fine since Madam Pomfrey fixed me up last night, I just wish I could remember what had happened to make me so messed up."

"You mean... you don't remember who hexed you?"

"Nope, not a clue. All I remember is talking to Zabini during dinner, and after that conversation everything's a blank," he said calmly.

We all looked at each other, shocked.

"Er, bye, Malfoy... Feel better," I muttered hurriedly, and the four of us quickly returned to the common room.

"Huh," Dom said as we climbed through the portrait hole. "I thought we'd all at least get a detention or something. I suppose we've gotten out of it now..."

"Good," Jenny said. "I _really _wasn't looking forward to it."

"Hopefully he never remembers... Ever..," I muttered. "Or we'll be in a shitload of trouble."

"It's a shame," Dom said, deadpan. "He'll never know just how good Rose is at Bat-Bogey Hexes."

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><p><strong>AN: Please, please, PLEASE review! I really appreciate each and every one I get (:**


	9. Chapter 9

**A/N: I'm so so sorry for not updating sooner. Life's been busy... But I hope you all appreciate this next chapter! Please please review, I really do appreciate it! (And thanks to those who did/favorited/followed!) Enjoy. =)**

**Disclaimer: I don't own HP, but I certainly wish I did!**

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><p>"Rose, how much do you hate Malfoy right now, on a scale of one to ten?" I asked her thoughtfully. Despite all that had happened in the past few weeks, I couldn't get over Malfoy. Even if he was an awful little shit.<p>

"Maybe a five, or a six. I don't know, I think it's better to just put this all behind me now. Besides, Aidan Price asked me out last week and I think I'm going to tell him yes," she grinned. "Why'd you want to know?"

"You'd better! Do you _know_ how many girls would kill to go on a date with him? And I don't know... I was just thinking," I lied.

Rose rolled her eyes and looked at me knowingly. "Yeah, right, Lily. You still like him, I can tell. Don't worry, I'm not mad at you or anything; besides, I get where you're coming from. I _did_ have a crush on him for the last six years."

I grinned. "Thanks, Rose."

"Ah, Lilykins, what happened to hating me with a vengeance?" came an awfully familiar voice from behind me.

Turning red, I spun around to give him my worst, most frightening glare which usually had even Dom practically cowering in fear. Malfoy didn't even flinch. "How much did you hear?" I asked slowly and carefully, hoping to Circe that he hadn't heard his name.

Malfoy just smirked and walked away, leaving me gaping after him in horror.

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><p>After everyone had eaten that night, McGonagall stood to make an announcement, which was pretty strange—nothing announcement-worthy ever really happened after the initial beginning-of-the-year announcements and the annual balls. It wasn't until she began speaking that I realized that it was nearly Halloween already.<p>

"Quiet down, everyone," McGonagall's magnified voice boomed. "As you all know, Halloween is very close and, as usual, we will be having our annual Halloween Ball for fifth, sixth, and seventh years. However, this year there will be a... _twist_," she said with a wry smile. The Great Hall erupted in whispers, but with a stern look from the Headmistress, everyone quickly quieted down.

"As I was saying, we have brought a new element to the Halloween Ball this year; however, you will not find out what exactly that is until you are there. I can assure you, however, it will be a night you will not forget."

As we strode back to the tower, the four of us gossiped about what it might be.

"Zachary Belby told me that they were going to put a special species of mistletoe up that'll force any two people under it to kiss," Dom said. "He says Professor Longbottom's been developing it for years, just for this! And with his connections, I think we ought to believe him."

"Yeah, right," I muttered with a roll of my eyes. "Like McGonagall would let _that_ happen."

"She'd never condone such a thing," Rose agreed. "It would be completely inappropriate."

"You never know!" Dom said airily.

"I heard from a couple of seventh-years that upon walking into the Hall, a mask would float to you and cover your face from the rest of the night," Jenny chimed in. "It would certainly bring a bit of mystery to it all, don't you think?"

We all agreed as we finally reached the portrait hole.

"_Episkey_," I told the portrait.

The Fat Lady smiled at us and said, "I can't wait for all of you to see what we have in store for you all!" before swinging open to let us in.

"Even the _portraits_ know? Seriously, I wish they'd just tell us," complained Dom.

I protested, "But that would make it all so much less exciting! Besides, I think it's going to be much more fun this way, whatever they've got up their sleeves. With McGonagall, I'm sure it's bound to be fun."

"Whatever," she muttered, flopping onto the couch in defeat. Then, her face lighting up, she exclaimed, "I can't wait to dress you all up!"

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><p>Our next Hogsmeade weekend was spent shopping for gowns and dress robes. Not knowing how we should dress, however, we were at a bit of a loss.<p>

"Do you think green would work?" Dom fussed. "It matches Lily's eyes. But what if it clashes with the decorations? Then it would just be _awful_! And tacky-looking."

"I don't know," Jenny murmured. She was just as crazy about clothes as Dom was, much to Rose's and my dismay. "Maybe we could go with a deep red for her hair? If it's orange and black it might not look as bad."

"Does it even matter?" Rose snapped. "Who cares about whether or not our dresses will match, as long as we look gorgeous?"

"Everyone does!" Dom retorted. "If your dresses don't go with the decor, then it won't matter how wonderful you look because you'll _clash_!"

Mentally banging my head against a wall in frustration, I sighed, "Stop it, you don't want to cause a scene, do you?"

Jenny, the one who liked attention the least of all, paled at the thought. Rose and Dom fell into silence, and we continued.

By the end of the day, we had settled on an elegant red gown for Rose, a gold, shimmery one for Jenny, a sexy little black dress for Dom—ever the seductress—and another deep red gown that went down to just above my ankles for me. I wasn't totally comfortable with the cut of the dress—it showed off _way_ too much skin for my liking—but the others insisted that I looked wonderful, so I gave in and got it for myself, although it really was more for _their_ satisfaction. I couldn't say that I didn't look good in it, though.

As we carefully hung our gowns up, Dom squealed, "I can't wait for next Saturday! I'll get to test out my makeup on all of you..."

Jenny, Rose, and I groaned. Dom was going to spend hours on end doing our makeup, which always turned out lovely in the end, but in all honesty it was quite uncomfortable to spend three hours just sitting there with Dom doing your makeup and tutting at you not to move or she'd smudge your eyeliner. And _she_ would do hers in less than twenty minutes. Not that she needed it anyways.

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><p>"Lily!" someone yelled in my ear. I turned around, cringing, to find myself facing Adam Avery grinning at me with jam smeared over half his face. I wrinkled my nose in disgust. "Will you go to the ball with me?"<p>

"In your dreams, Avery," I told him with a glare and walked away, trying not to gag.

As I sat down next to Jenny, she said, "Ugh, those Slytherin boys are such brutes. They seem to think that they're the best there is."

Dom grimaced. "Exactly! At least five of them swaggered up to me today demanding I come with them to the Halloween Ball, and when I turned them down, they just gaped at me and kept saying, 'Why? You can't find anyone better than me!'" she laughed, doing a fantastic imitation of them. "And," she added, "ten different first-years asked me before I'd even gotten out of the common room this morning! The nerve of them... I mean, did they really think I'd go to a ball with a _first-year_? Besides, I have my heart set..." she murmured dreamily while looking over at the Ravenclaw table. We all knew who she was trying to inflict her Veela charm on: Peter Prince. As she spoke, some first-years down the table turned red and I grinned.

As she spoke, some first-years down the table turned red and I grinned. "Looks like some of the first-years heard your little speech."

"Oops!" Dom giggled and waved to the poor boys. I think one of them actually fainted at the sight of her smiling radiantly over at them, and the others just swooned in a very... _un-masculine_ way.

One of them managed to mumble, in a daze, "Will you come with me to the ball?"

Rolling her eyes, Dom laughed, "Of course not, you asked me out twice this morning. Hope you have better luck with a girl your age!"

The look of disappointment on the boy's face quickly faded into one of mortification and sheepishness as everyone at the Gryffindor table began to laugh at the unfortunate first-years, attracting many confused looks from the other tables. Looking up as I laughed, I caught Malfoy's eye and blushed, earning me a smirk from him, across the room. I shot him my most frightening glare and went back to eating my breakfast.

All the while, something deep inside of me was wishing that I'd been the one who was asked out, but instead of all the poor little first-years, the one who asked me out was Malfoy...

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><p><strong>AN: Like it? Please review! Really, I appreciate each and every one of them! =)**


	10. Chapter 10

**A/N: See? I updated quickly this time! =D  
>I expected more reviews though, so I think I was a bit disappointed about that. Hopefully all of you review a bit more this time... *cough*<br>Enjoy! (and then the disclaimer again, etc...)**

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><p>The next week seemed to pass by in a blur of girls frantically getting ready for the ball, boys asking girls—as in anyone but me—to the ball, and classes, which no one was actually paying any attention to.<p>

That was how, the night before the ball, I found myself just about the only sixth-year girl without a date, feeling miserable. I sat in the library, reading a book and wallowing in self-pity, which I know is never the best thing to do, but honestly! _Everyone_ but me had a date.

I let out a frustrated breath. I'd been reading the first sentence of my Muggle book for the past hour; I really was getting nowhere.

"What're you so pissed off about, Potter?" a snide voice said.

Glaring as I looked up at Malfoy, I muttered, "None of your business."

"What, you don't have a date?" he taunted. He smirked when he saw the expression on my face, which probably told him what he needed to know. Then, his smug expression faded. "Well," he told me lightly and in a tone that was very un-Malfoy-ish, "I don't have a date either. I was waiting for someone else."

"Who," I said haughtily, "Peony Parkinson?"

He laughed, a sound that was strange and unfamiliar to me. Who'd have thought that Scorpius Malfoy could actually _laugh_? "As a matter of fact, Potter, I was waiting for _you_."

I gaped at him for a second, before spluttering, "_What_?"

He shrugged. "You're pretty."

Malfoy? Saying I was _pretty_? This was just unreal. As much as I wanted to say that none of that affected me, his words made my heart skip a beat. After a few moments of me staring at him wide-eyed, I finally mumbled, "And this time you're serious?"

"Yeah, no joke," he said, flashing me a dazzling smile. I felt a bit lightheaded, then inwardly scolded myself for acting like this around him.

_If you keep this up, you won't be any better than all of those other girls!_ I thought to myself.

"So... Did you mean it when you said that I'm pretty?" I finally managed to say in a voice that was very unlike my own.

He smiled kindly and my mind reeled in shock. Honestly, I'd never seen him be this nice before. It was bizarre. "Obviously, Lily. I wouldn't say it if I didn't think so; I wouldn't compliment you and be _lying_ about it."

"But... you stood Rose up at the Hogsmeade weekend! How do I know you don't do that to me?" I managed to stammer, still feeling a bit dizzy.

"I only did it because I realized that I never liked your cousin," he said calmly, looking me in the eyes. His silvery-grey eyes seemed to pierce my own green ones, and I felt frozen, unable to move. "I realized that the one I liked... was _you_."

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><p>I groggily pulled myself out of bed the next morning; I'd decided that if Dom was going to spend the whole day doing our makeup, I might as well get up by myself.<p>

I was still in shock from the events of last night, and I wasn't sure if I'd been hallucinating or something. I mean, honestly, Scorpius asking me out? It was just impossible.

Wait. When had I gotten to a first-name basis with him? _He_ had always called me Lilykins or some other annoying pet name, but I had always referred to him as Malfoy. When did that change?

My thoughts were interrupted by Dom literally _jumping_ out of bed and yelling, "WAKE UP, GIRLS! IT'S TIME TO DO YOUR MAKEUP!" She had a fantastic grin on her face and looked as if she'd already _done_ hers. Why couldn't we all look like her first thing in the morning? Bloody part-Veela.

As Jenny and Rose reluctantly extracted themselves from the bed, Dom instructed, "All of you, take a shower and make sure you _exfoliate_!"

Taking advantage of the other two's half-asleep states, I jumped up and shouted, "ME FIRST!" before running into the bathroom. Ten minutes later, I came out with a bath towel wrapped around myself, grinning at Rose and Jenny, who were glaring at me.

"What took you so long?" Rose demanded. She never was a morning person, and neither was Jenny, I suppose. They both looked very grumpy, and their petulant expressions made me burst out laughing.

"I was just taking my time," I told her with a smile. Before Jenny could do anything, Rose had run into the bathroom and we heard the water start.

Dom looked up from her latest copy of _Witch Weekly_. "Good, you're finally done. Make sure you moisturize _everywhere_ and then put the towel back on. We can't very well smudge your makeup or ruin your hair when you take your shirt off, can we?"

Rolling my eyes, I mumbled, "Yes, ma'am," before taking the bottle of moisturizer from Dom's outstretched hand.

"Apply it generously!" she barked.

And so the day continued. As each of us came out of the shower, she instructed us to moisturize ourselves and stay in our towels. When I had finished, Dom sat me in front of the vanity that she brought with her every year. Apparently, it was a _necessity_.

Watching Dom do her work was boring and tedious, although she let me borrow her copy of _Witch Weekly_ at one point and we chatted about the articles. I snorted with disgust at one they'd printed about Aunt Hermione, talking about her apparently _atrocious_ taste in clothes. I mean, honestly, her style is sensible yet elegant—altogether, far from distasteful.

Hearing me snort, Dom scolded, "That's very unladylike, Lily!"

I rolled my eyes and said, "You'd do it too if you'd seen this article!"

She stopped curling my hair for a second to glance at it. "Oh, that one?" she said dismissively. "I know, it's a load of rubbish. They just caught her on a bad day is all. I suppose that's all the tabloids ever do: make up stories based on pictures taken at unfortunate moments."

"Then why do you get these magazines in the first place?" I questioned, puzzled.

Dom shrugged. "Their makeup tips are useful. Besides, I'd have nothing else to read otherwise."

It was true; Dom probably had never even picked up a real book in her life, choosing instead to pore over fashion and gossip magazines in her spare time. The closest thing she'd ever used was a textbook, and those didn't count.

At that moment, Rose complained from her bed, "When is it going to be _my_ turn? You're taking forever!"

We were used to Rose's complaints, and Dom obviously wouldn't be done with me for another couple of hours, so we just rolled our eyes and continued with our conversation, Rose grumbling to herself all the while.

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><p>I stared at my reflection, not comprehending a thing I saw. The girl in the mirror looked nothing like me, yet it obviously was. My green eyes seemed to shimmer and my pale skin seemed to glow, while my bright red hair—whose hue was unlike anyone else's—was curled in soft, elegant ringlets, framing my face perfectly. Dom was masterful with makeup, putting just the right amount on our faces so that it looked almost natural and highlighted our best features. My crimson dress had a plunging neckline that the others assured me I looked gorgeous in, but I felt almost naked with so much skin exposed. Besides, my whole back was bare as well. At least the rest of it went almost all the way down.<p>

Jenny looked beautiful in her shimmery gold gown, her blonde hair gleaming in the light. Dom had put her hair up in a crazy hairdo that none of us could put a name to that looked absolutely gorgeous on her, and she had just a touch of gold eyeshadow and a bit of blush on her, in addition to the thin layer of lip gloss that Dom had quickly put onto her lips.

Dom, as usual, was stunning and, of course, sexy in her long black dress. It went down to about two inches below her knee and showed off more skin than even mine did. It had thin straps and an open back that was crisscrossed with thin, see-through strips of fabric and had a slit up one side that gave a peek of her whole leg. She had dark, smoky-looking eyes and on sight Peter was probably going to drag her off to an empty classroom to do Circe-knows-what.

Rose's hair was perfectly straight, not a single hair out of place, and her modest-yet-elegant red dress showed her curves off in all the right places, making her look incredibly sexy, even though the long-sleeved dress covered just about all of her. Aidan Price was going to literally faint when he saw her, I was sure.

In fact, he did just that. When Aidan saw Rose, his eyes got impossibly wide and he just crumpled to the ground in shock. We all thought we'd have to take him to Madam Pomfrey or something, but within a minute he got up, dusted himself off—although he did look a bit tousled afterwards—and shakily offered his hand to Rose. I almost felt bad for him; upon seeing Rose, he'd become horribly nervous and couldn't form a coherent sentence. Rose giggled and walked off.

To my surprise, Scorpius was there. I suppose I wasn't hallucinating after all. His eyes widened in shock for a moment when he saw me before he composed himself and calmly handed me a perfect lily. I smiled. It was a bit tacky, but I still thought it was sweet. Turning to look at Dom, I noticed that her eyebrows were raised in surprise; I'd forgotten to tell them about Scorpius asking me to the ball the night before, and Jenny just grinned before walking off with her date, a seventh-year Hufflepuff.

"Seeya, Dom!" I said as Peter waltzed up with a grin on his face and I watched them sneak back up to the common room. She winked at me before they climbed back through the portrait hole.

We walked down to the Great Hall, but before we got there we were ushered back to another room not too far away. Dom and Peter breathlessly arrived a couple minutes later, both looking ridiculously smug. I rolled my eyes at her, and she grinned in response.

Jenny stood next to me, and I whispered, "What do you think is happening?"

She shrugged. "I guess this is the surprise they were talking about."

Within minutes, the doors were closed and McGonagall swept into the room. "As you can see, this is no ordinary ball! Tonight we have placed an enchantment on everyone in this room. The enchantment makes you unable to remember the exact features of the people you are with; when you are with them, you will not be able to recognize them and will only be able to focus on one feature at a time, but that feature will be crystal-clear. Later, you will only be able to remember bits and pieces of their appearances. Hopefully it provides you all with a bit of... _mystery_." McGonagall said, exiting with a flourish of her wand.

Suddenly, I was swept to my right, and looking around, all of the other girls in the room were too. The boys were pushed off to the left. "All right, everyone!" called Professor Turner. "Girls and boys will be brought to the Great Hall separately, so don't even think about trying to stick together!" Rose and I sniggered at Dom and Peter who reluctantly stopped devouring each others' faces and separated.

"Ladies first," Professor Turner said, and led us into the room.

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><p><strong>AN: Like it? :D Hehe, finally some Lily/Scorpius chapter... and yes, the chapters WILL be getting longer soon. I promise! (PLEASE REVIEW!)**


	11. Chapter 11

**A/N: Four reviews in two days! That's the fastest that's happened.. :D I'm so proud of you all, haha... Thanks to everyone who reviewed/favorited/followed!  
>By the way, I've made some minor changes in the first few chapters as I've been going through and trying to make them the best they can be. If you have any constructive criticism, I really appreciate it. Hope you like this chapter!<strong>

**Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter. **

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><p>The Great Hall was breathtaking. The four House tables were all pushed off to one side of the room, full of Halloween-themed treats and pastries. Floating trays—which were somewhat creepy, in my opinion—had various snacks on them and there were various multicolored fountains scattered around the room. As I got closer to one, I realized that the fountains were different kinds of drinks in all the different colors of the rainbow—the yellow one I was near, for example, was Butterbeer. I tried to reach for it, but an invisible force stopped my hand from reaching closer than an inch from the liquid. I wasn't surprised; McGonagall would never consent to serving alcoholic drinks without at least having an age limit on them.<p>

The fountain on my right was bright red and, taking a sip, I realized it was some kind of bitter tomato juice. I choked a bit and put the cup back down. It seemed that that night was going to be full of tricks _and_ treats. The blue one tasted like blueberries and was very fizzy, while the purple one was some kind of grape juice that made your skin turn purple for a minute. The orange one was pumpkin juice and the green one made you appear to be drenched in a lime-green slime and apparently tasted awful, so I didn't dare try.

The walls shimmered orange and black, gradually fading from one color to the other. Everyone's skin seemed to emit a heavenly glow, but as McGonagall had said, I couldn't make out most of their features. I managed to spot Jenny and Rose in the crowd, as it seemed that it was easier to see people of your own gender. "Jenny! Rose!" I exclaimed.

"Have you seen these cobwebs?" Jenny gushed. "They're made of spun sugar! And the spiders are made of licorice!" She pointed to the spiders and webs on the wall.

"That's not even it!" Dom grinned. "The candles tonight are _edible_! They're all kinds of different flavors... And have you _seen_ those fountains?"

The two of them continued to babble about all of the different edible decorations as I looked around in wonder.

"How long do you think it took for them to do all of this?" I asked. Dom and Jenny were about to respond when their eyes fixed on someone behind me.

I turned around and looked into the most piercing, silvery-grey eyes I had ever seen.

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><p><strong>Scorpius POV:<strong>

As the red-haired girl turned around to face me, I couldn't help but stare into her beautiful green eyes. They were flecked with gold. Everything about them seemed surprisingly vivid, although the rest of her was there, but in comparison they seemed dull. Until I tore my eyes away, at least. Then I noticed her curly, red hair that was incredibly, ridiculously bright. It fell around her face perfectly, and when I focused on _that,_ I noticed just how perfect she looked.

Looking down at her dress, I was surprised to see a plunging v-neck that looked like it must have gone down to her bellybutton. The dressed hugged her body in just the right places, and I swear my mouth was practically watering at the sight of her. She had a lily tucked into her dress, and I thought I'd found her, but I really couldn't be sure with all of these enchantments.

A clear voice interrupted my thoughts. "My eyes are up here, you know."

"Oh, I know," I grinned at her. "They're beautiful."

I wasn't usually one to compliment people so easily, but that night something strange came over me when I was with her that made me feel like one of those awful lovey-dovey people you read about in those sappy romance novels. Not that I've read one or anything. I'm a Malfoy, why would I ever read one of those pieces of shit? Honestly!

She blushed at my words and said, "So are yours." Her two friends behind her were grinning like fools at us as I asked her to dance.

Years of dance lessons let me glide with the graceful girl who may or may not have been Lily just as gracefully as she did, and I stared into her eyes the whole time, entranced by her beauty. "Who are you?" I asked finally.

She smiled; it was the most radiant smile I'd ever seen. "Like I'd tell you!" she said with a laugh, which was a beautiful, tinkling laugh that made me smile with just the sound of it. "That would ruin the whole point of this!"

"Come on!" I urged her. "You're the most beautiful girl I've ever seen. I swear! If you'll tell me, I'll tell you..."

"I think I already know who you are," she said with a grin. "You're Scorpius Malfoy..."

"If I were, I wouldn't tell you," I responded easily. "But I think that _you're_ Lily Potter."

"And if _I_ were, I wouldn't tell you either," she laughed again.

"By the end of the night, I'll get it out of you!" I declared.

With a smile, she said, "We'll see about that."

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><p><strong>Lily POV:<strong>

The person I presumed to be Scorpius was so nonchalant all night. His eyes, when he was smiling seemed to have a light blue sheen, and they gleamed in the light from the candles. His white-blonde hair seemed to shine in the light and there was no one else I could think of who looked like that, but who really knew? That and his eyes were the only thing I could identify him with, and there probably were others out there who had those features too.

As we glided along the dance floor, I felt like I was in heaven or something. It was just... amazing. In the middle of our dance, I felt a tap on my shoulder. Turning around, a boy with untidy black hair said, "May I steal this lovely lady from you?"

Scorpius-or-whoever-it-was reluctantly handed me over to the person who, no doubt, was Albus stepping in to be the protective brother. One look at his green eyes told me exactly who it was. "So, Al," I said breezily, "How has your night been?"

"How'd you recognize me?" he said, surprise in his voice.

I grinned. "Your hair."

He growled, "Great. I was hoping to surprise you... Anyways, do you know who you were dancing with?"

"No, but I have my suspicions," I replied. "By the way, don't you remember why I don't like dancing with you? You always step on my toes."

Rolling his eyes, Al led me back to the tables, where Rose and Jenny had just returned to, each with a cup of Butterbeer in hand.

"Hey, Lily!" Rose grinned, holding another cup out to me. "Want one?"

"I'm not sure I can have one," I told her.

She laughed, "It's the weakest thing you can drink tonight; I think Belby spiked the rest of the fountains with Firewhiskey."

"All right," I grinned, and took the cup with a shrug.

"So," Rose said with a mischievous smile. "Who was that lovely stranger you were dancing with back there? You looked like you were on cloud nine..."

I rolled my eyes. "I don't know, Rose. He wouldn't tell me."

"Really?" Rose asked, surprised, "Half the people who danced with me told me who they were right away."

"That just ruins the whole point of this, though!" I told her. "Why would they disguise everyone under this spell only if everyone told each other who they were?"

Rose shrugged. "I guess some people just don't care."

"Where's Dom off to now?" I inquired after a moment.

Jenny snickered, "Probably off shagging Peter in a broom closet somewhere."

Rose and I laughed. "It wouldn't surprise me," she said with a shrug.

I felt another tap on my shoulder and turned, once again, to face the owner of those piercing silvery-grey eyes.

"Hello," he smiled. "Come with me for a minute?"

Rose and Dom tittered behind me, and as I was led away I rolled my eyes at them, but they started making ridiculous kissy faces at me and I had to look away to keep from laughing.

"So," I murmured. "What are we doing out here?"

He had brought me out onto a hidden terrace outside that had a beautiful view of the grounds. I'd have to try to remember this place so I could come read here later...

"I just wanted to talk to you alone," he shrugged.

"All right," I said with an easy smile. "What do you want to talk about?"

"Well, honestly," he said a bit sheepishly, "I didn't exactly want to _talk_..."

I was stumped for a minute before I realized what he meant. "Oh!" I managed to get out.

"I mean, if you don't want to—"

"I didn't mean that at all!" I exclaimed suddenly. He looked a bit startled, too.

I wasn't so sure that this was Scorpius anymore. He was too... unsure. Too nice. But tonight was tonight, and whoever this was probably wouldn't remember me tomorrow.

The awkward silence between us seemed to stretch on for hours before he broke it.

"The spell ends at midnight," he said, quirking an eyebrow.

"What time is it now?" I asked.

Checking a watch—I'd never figured out how to read those, only the Muggle ones—he said, "Quarter to."

"Hmmm... Why don't we stay out here until then?"

He grinned. "Sure. Then I'll get to find out who you are..."

"And I you."

I was quite excited at the prospect, seeing as I had no idea at all who he was or why he made me so nervous.

We made easy conversation for a while, talking about what we liked and what we didn't, about classes and just about anything we could think of.

"Can I tell you something?" he said quietly.

"Sure," I told him.

"If you're not Lily, I hope this doesn't hurt your feelings... But if you are, I want you to know that I've been in love with you for forever. I swear I'm not lying," he said, his breath warming my cheek as he whispered into my ear.

"Well," I murmured back, "When the clock strikes midnight, you'll see..."

He smiled and said, "I really hope you're Lily. Because you're just as perfect as she is..."

And that was when he kissed me.

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><p><strong>AN: Hope you enjoyed this chapter... Please, please, please review! I appreciate each and every one of them. =D**


	12. Chapter 12

**A/N: Five reviews! *yesss..* xD I'm really thankful to those of you who're reviewing! However, there are about 25 people who have this on their alert list and 14 who have this favorited, so the lack of reviews from most of you is slightly disappointing...  
>Anyways, I hope you enjoy this chapter!<strong>

**Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter. **

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><p>His lips were soft and warm on mine, and I gasped a little as I felt electricity go through my body at the contact. Before I knew it, I was pressed against the wall of the terrace and I was lost in all of the sensations. My mind was foggy and for a minute, I forgot all of my worries and let myself go. As I felt his tongue slowly snake its way into my mouth, I kissed him back as passionately as he was kissing <em>me<em>, before suddenly realizing that midnight must have come already.

Gasping, I managed to pull back from his grasp. Both of our eyes widened at the same time.

"Scorpius?"

"Lily?"

We both stared at each other in shock. We'd each known who the other was the whole night, but the confirmation of our suspicions just seemed... well, _shocking_.

Relief, then a triumphant smirk crossed his face, which was crystal-clear to me now. "Well, Lily... If I asked you to Hogsmeade right you, you wouldn't turn me down, would you?"

I glared at him. "Maybe I would!" I said petulantly.

He raised an eyebrow as I continued to glare at him. "Are we having a staring contest?" he asked with a laugh.

I continued to glare at him and crossed my arms. When I blinked, he shouted (and I might add, loud enough for the whole fucking _castle_ to hear), "HA! I WON!"

"We were _not_ having a staring contest!" I exclaimed.

"Then why did you just keep glaring at me when I asked?"

"Because I didn't want to talk to you!"

"Well, _would_ you turn me down?" he asked hesitantly.

Slowly, I admitted, "No... But that doesn't mean you should be so _smug_ around me, you arsehole!" I added before he could act that way again.

"Okay, well, Lily, would you like to go to Hogsmeade with me?" he asked with a grin.

I sighed. "Yes..." I mumbled with the tone of a reluctant toddler.

"Finally," he said with a grin.

I rolled my eyes. "Whatever."

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><p>"Sooo, Lily..." Dom said, her eyes twinkling mischievously. "What did you and Mystery Boy get up to last night?"<p>

"'Mystery boy' was Scorpius," I told her slowly and a bit hesitantly. She, Rose, and Jenny, all looked rather apalled.

"You mean piece-of-shit-arsehole-bane-of-your-existence Scorpius?" Jenny gaped.

"I knew it," Rose said triumphantly.

Dom just stared at me in shock, and what might have been horror. "...What?" she finally managed to get out.

Slowly, enunciating each syllable as if I was talking to a baby, I said, "The person I was with last night was Scorpius Malfoy."

Dom just sat there looking like she couldn't comprehend a word I was saying as we (as in everyone but Dom) started laughing at her, and, startled, Dom stiffened and then relaxed before shaking her head in disbelief. "Whatever you say, Lily."

"What? I saw his face," I said defensively.

"What do you mean, you saw his face?" Rose asked, puzzled. "McGonagall had that spell on all of us..."

"It wore off after midnight," I informed her.

After thinking deeply for a moment—as Rose always did when she was confused—she finally murmured, "Oh."

"I knew something Rose didn't!" I sang, grinning and sticking my tongue out at her like a little kid.

Rose sighed in an irritated fashion, but we could see her trying to suppress a grin. "Don't be so childish, Lily," she chided playfully.

"Hey!" Dom interrupted. "Aren't you going to tell us what happened with Malfoy after you two left?"

I blushed. "Er... We—"

"Snogged? Shagged in a broom closet? Almost shagged but were almost caught by a teacher?" Dom grinned.

I rolled my eyes. "If you keep doing that, I'm not going to tell you."

"Fine," Dom pouted. "I just want to know!"

"Well, we snogged... For a while..."

Jenny squealed. "I knew it!"

"And what else did you do?" Dom wiggled her eyebrows suggestively.

"Nothing," I scowled at her. "And if we _did_ do anything else, I probably wouldn't tell you!"

"Aww, don't get your knickers in a bunch," Rose teased. "We were just joking!"

"Of course you were," I said with a roll of my eyes, "But that doesn't make it any less aggravating!"

"It's not like you don't do it to us," Jenny giggled innocently.

Rose added, "Yeah! You do that to us all the time..."

Crossing my arms in defeat, I muttered, "Whatever you say..."

Jenny, Dom, and Rose, grinned at me in triumph.

"Don't look so smug," I told them. And to Dom, I added, "I heard it makes your crows' feet come earlier."

Dom looked horrified.

* * *

><p>On my way to Potions, I felt a hand brush mine and slip a scrap of parchment into my hand. Looking behind me, I saw Scorpius's white-blonde head heading away from me. I glanced down to the parchment in my palm to see his ridiculously neat handwriting:<p>

_Meet me at the Astronomy Tower, 8 p.m._

-Scorpius

I was distracted all through Potions. It was like I'd used one of Uncle George's Patented Daydreaming Charms or something. I just kept imagining what would happen that night. Luckily, we were only brewing Pepper-Up potions today, as Madam Pomfrey was running out, and Rose happened to be my partner. She was just as good as I was, much to Professor Burnett's displeasure. Most of the Slytherins were pretty awful at Potions, which only added to poor Burnett's dilemma. Except for Scorpius, of course. Professor Burnett took great pride and pleasure in complimenting him whenever possible.

"What's with you?" Rose asked as we headed for the Great Hall for lunch. "You seem like you've been out of it since the beginning of class."

"Nothing," I brushed her off. "Just a bit distracted."

Rose didn't seem to buy it, but at that moment Dom, who was covered in soot from her potion's explosion after she added too many Gurdyroots, rushed over and growled, "I cannot _believe_ Burnett docked _fifty_ points from Gryffindor just because I made my potion explode! I mean, I can, since he's an abominable arsehole, but still! It's ridiculous!"

We comforted Dom and chatted as we sat down at our regular spot at the Gryffindor table before Dom's mouth was too full of food for her to complain anymore.

Before long, it was a quarter to eight and I hurriedly told my friends I was going to the library, but the expressions on their faces told me they knew what I was _really_ doing.

Hurrying to the Astronomy Tower, I panted as I climbed the seemingly endless flight of stairs. When I had almost reached the top, I heard voices. Shouldn't it be just Scorpius, though? Everyone else was at dinner...

"Come on, Scorp, you know you want me," a strangely familiar female voice whispered huskily.

His voice was too low for me to hear his response.

"You're the only one I haven't had... Haven't you heard how _good_ I am? Haven't you _wondered_?" she continued in a sultry voice.

I heard him say something else that was also unintelligible. I kept creeping up stair after stair as quietly as I could and peeked through the doorway when I had finally reached the top.

What I saw appalled me.

On the floor was a long, black cloak, and Elizabeth Whitby stood there in next to no clothes, kissing Scorpius. His hands were on her chest and my eyes locked on their lips. _Together_. Tears filled my eyes as he pushed her off of him and looked up and met my eyes, which were welling up with tears, with his silvery-grey ones before I fled.

* * *

><p><strong>Scorpius POV:<strong>

I had left halfway through dinner so I could meet Lily in the Astronomy Tower. Sitting down to wait for her, I rose with a smile as I heard footsteps. She was early.

But the sight that I was faced with was not the one I was expecting. Gryffindor's slut-of-the-century stood there with a smile that I supposed was meant to look sexy, but in all honesty all I could think when I saw her was that she looked like one of those cheap Muggle prostitutes.

She was wearing a skimpy-looking, black lace corset that only _just_ covered her breasts and matching knickers that looked like very, very short boxers and were slightly translucent. Her midriff was exposed, showing off a bellybutton ring. I couldn't help but feel repulsed at her open whorishness. She held her cloak in one hand and dropped it to the floor as she crossed over to me.

"Evening, Scorpius," she said, her voice husky but not even remotely sexy.

"Hello, Elizabeth. What brings you here?" I said nonchalantly, acting as if she _wasn't_, in fact, wearing lingerie in the Astronomy Tower.

She smiled, trying to give me a smouldering look as she inched closer to me. "I followed you. You looked like.. You were waiting for me," she said slowly.

"I wasn't," I told her. "I was waiting for someone else..."

"And who might that be?" she growled with a predatory look in her eyes. "Some moronic Slytherin fangirl who's been fawning over you for half your life?"

"No, it's..." I faltered when she came towards me and brought her face within less than in inch of mine.

"Come on, Scorp, you know you want me," she whispered with a husky note in her voice.

I huffed, annoyed. "I never have, and never will."

She continued, "You're the only one I haven't had... Haven't you heard how _good_ I am? Haven't you _wondered_?"

"Again, I never have and I never will, so please leave me alone," I hissed, my voice deathly quiet, a threat hidden beneath my words.

She whispered, just loud enough for me to hear, "Don't be afraid to admit it... You want me."

Then, she leaned in and kissed me, trying to shove her tongue down my throat. The initial shock made me freeze for a moment, and then my hands slowly rose to her chest before I forcefully shoved her off of me.

When I looked up, I saw Lily staring at me from the doorway, tears welling up in her eyes, and in them I could see the hurt, the betrayal, the pain. Before I could open my mouth, she was gone.

"Lily!" I called, but she didn't respond. Despair washed over me, and I almost forgot about the Gryffindor who was standing just in front of me.

"So, that was who you were going to meet?" she smirked. "Little Lily Potter? What do you see in _that_ swot?"

I shook my head. "Just stay away from me."

And then I ran after Lily, desperately hoping that I could find her.

* * *

><p><strong>Lily POV:<strong>

I started sobbing halfway back to the common room. Once the flood came, it wouldn't stop, and I managed to reach the Prefect's bathroom before anyone saw me.

"Treacle Tart," I managed to get out before stepping in. As soon as the door was closed and my privacy was ensured, I sank down to the ground and started to cry again.

How could he do that to me? He'd played with my feelings, all this time... All this time everything had been a lie.

I must've cried for an hour before it finally stopped and I just sat there, feeling sad for myself. It was kind of pathetic. After, sadness subsided into fury at Scorpius—no, he was Malfoy now—and all I felt was a hollow feeling deep in the pit of my stomach. I was numb.

I decided to take advantage of my surroundings and took a long, luxurious bath, but I felt nothing. I got out, dried myself off, put my clothes back on, and headed back to the common room.

"_Metamorphagus_," I told the portrait calmly. She swung open as she beamed at me before I climbed in, immediately walking towards the dorms.

"Lily!" a voice called.

I turned around to see Louis Weasley, who was, unfortunately, yet another cousin, grinning at me. "Hi, Louis," I said kindly, but I could hear the hollowness in my voice, too.

"You're back late," he said with a raised eyebrow. "I'm surprised no one caught you."

"I just lost track of time is all," I told him. "I'm exhausted, though, so I'll be heading off to bed."

"Seeya, Lily," Louis smiled.

When I finally reached our dorm, Dom, Rose, and Jenny were sitting there, poring over a magazine. Dom looked up. "So, Lily, how did your little meeting with Scorpius go?" she said, wigging her eyebrows.

"I'll tell you about it in the morning," I brushed her off.

Rose noticed the hollow-sounding note in my voice and asked tentatively, "Lily? Are you okay? Did something happened?"

"Nothing happened, Rose," I lied. "I'm just tired."

But I could tell she didn't believe me. I supposed I'd deal with it in the morning...

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><p><strong>AN: So much in one chapter. ;-; Want the next one? There's only one way to get it... REVIEW! =D**


	13. Chapter 13

**A/N: This is the longest chapter yet! And I'm so glad that more of you reviewed the last chapter :D I got one more review than I usually do, which is great... Hopefully the rest of you will review, too? ;D  
>Anyways, I'm not going to be updating this often anymore. Maybe every 2-3 days. Or more. It really just depends on my schedule and when I can get on...<br>Enjoy!**

**(I don't own Harry Potter, duh...) **

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><p>At breakfast in the morning, all three of my friends were looking at me concernedly but still said nothing.<p>

We ate in silence, until Rose finally inquired, "So, Lily, how did your night go?"

I just went on eating like she didn't say anything.

After a moment, in a strained voice, she repeated, "Lily, how did your night go?"

I finally looked up at her. "It went fine," I said, no emotion in my voice.

The other three looked genuinely concerned, and Jenny said, "Are you sure you're all right, Lily? Did something happen?"

"Nothing happened, Jenny," I replied calmly. I could see the girls exchanging glances over my head, but no one said anything anyways.

I spent the rest of the day in peace. The girls steered clear of me, and I still felt nothing. Nothing at all.

The next day, it was Saturday. It was one week before the Hogsmeade weekend, and thinking of this, the tears just came like a flood all over again.

All of the anger, the hurt, the sadness that I had been avoiding came back all at once. All along, it had been there inside of me, but I'd been ignoring it, bottling it up. They hit me like a tornado, a whirl of memories and feelings and tears, and I just lay there sobbing. Before long, all three of my best friends had come to my bed, concerned looks on their faces. They just held me until I was done, which was what seemed like hours later.

"What really happened, Lily?" Dom asked gently. It wasn't really in her nature to be gentle, honestly, but I think she knew she needed to treat lightly here.

After a long moment, I managed to whisper, "H-he told me to c-come to the Astronomy Tower..."

"And?" Rose urged.

"And when I got there... I saw him kissing Liz Whitby," I said, my voice barely audible.

All three of them gasped.

"What a bitch!" Jenny exclaimed.

"What a slut!" Rose added, looking furious.

Dom looked the most frightening of all. She had that look of cold fury on her face that she only got when she was plotting someone's demise. "That asshole... Don't worry, Lily, I'll talk to Uncle George and get all the best Weasley's Wizard Wheezes products I can get my hands on. Which is, pretty much, all of them."

I managed to smile a little at that. Dom always knew how to cheer me up.

"Don't bother," I told her, confidence in my voice. "I've got it all covered."

* * *

><p>The next two days were spent with the four of us huddled together on my bed, planning Malfoy's complete and utter humiliation.<p>

I had at least half of Uncle George's products (prototypes, but if they didn't work properly, who would care but Malfoy?) in my trunk that he'd given me before we left, and we owled him asking for possible ideas. Of course, we didn't mention who we were using them against, because he'd need a reason as to why we were plotting our revenge on him, but he was happy to help anyways.

In his letter, he told us that the Bogey Boggart package in particular was a bit of a nightmare for the victim; it was, essentially, a Boggart that was made of bogeys. Obviously. It really did work like a Boggart, though, which was pure genius on Uncle George's part. It was a lot like the Bat Bogey hex, since it would attack you, but only after turning into your worst fear. Unfortunately, it wouldn't _really_ hurt a person, but it would definitely give them a fright.

He also mentioned that Loony Lozenges would scare him half to death; one would cause him to have hallucinations for a whole day: whispering voices in his head, strange visions, and other bizarre things. It was a lot like his Patented Daydream Charms, but ten times better for this, I'd think.

We slipped one into his drink Monday morning at breakfast before watching people stare at him as he spoke to someone who simply wasn't there.

The next day, we unleashed the Bogey Boggart on him. He was free from any hallucinations, so he was able to experience the fear in full. Honestly, it was hilarious. The Boggart turned into a vampire, and it was made all the more funny by the fact that it was made of _bogeys_, of all things. Malfoy was frightened half to death by it anyways, and it followed him around all day, causing him to make an utter fool of himself, shuddering when he saw it and practically cowering in fear some of the times.

Professor Flitwick kicked him out of Charms because he thought the Boggart was some kind of antic created to disrupt class and he therefore missed our lesson for the day, to my satisfaction. Throughout the rest of the week we tried various tricks on him, and by the end of the

Friday morning he had purple blotches on his skin, looked absolutely exhausted—we'd gotten a Ghastly Ghoul package out and convinced it to keep him up all night—and had strange blue things hanging out of his ears. He couldn't hear a thing.

He finally approached me after Potions, having pulled the blue things out of his ears somehow.

"Lily, I really need to talk to you—" he began, but I cut him off.

"I have nothing to say to you, Malfoy," I told him briskly and started to walk off, but he grabbed my arm before I could do anything.

"Please, just listen to me," he said, sounding desperate. Although it was hard to take him seriously, the state he was in. I'd heard that even Madam Pomfrey couldn't fix him. I really loved Uncle George.

I looked at him suspiciously. "And why should I listen to you?"

"Because you don't know the whole story. You only know what you saw; you only saw a glimpse. I swear, it's not what you think!"

People were staring at us now, and what a strange-looking pair we made. Me, with my cold, indignant expression. Him with purple splotches on his face and ears and blue fuzz starting to grow again.

"You're a liar and a cheat. I won't ever believe you, whatever you say. You hurt me and there's no way I'll ever forgive you for doing that to me," I told him, my anger bubbling up inside of me and threatening to spill.

"Please!" he pleaded. "Just meet me at the same place we met the night of the ball after dinner. You'll see it when you get to it... It'll give us some privacy. I'll understand if you don't forgive me, but you need to hear it."

I walked away.

* * *

><p>After dinner, which I hadn't eaten a bite of, I decided to go. The only issue was that I had no bloody idea where that terrace <em>was<em>. I wandered the first floor for a while before moving onto the next. On the third floor, I found it. It was almost as if it hadn't been there before; I supposed I'd just never noticed it. Slipping in, I found Malfoy waiting for me.

Upon seeing me, a genuine smile crossed his face. I couldn't help but feel guilty for treating him so awfully that past week, no matter what he had done.

"I'm so glad you came, Lily..."

I just shook my head. "Just get it over with," I said exasperatedly.

"I was waiting in the Astronomy Tower for you when that whorish Gryffindor girl came in, barely clothed, saying she'd followed me. She tried to seduce me, but it was rather repulsive, honestly. She was acting like a cheap slut, excuse my language," he grinned. When I said and did nothing, it faltered. "She kept trying to convince me to sleep with her and just kissed me all of a sudden, and I pushed her off of me before I looked up and saw you..."

"I don't believe a word of it," I told him briskly, before starting to stride out the entrance. Did he really expect me to believe something like that?

"Wait!" he cried, grabbing my arm. "Please, believe me, I'm telling the truth. You can even give me Veritaserum if you want..."

I had never seen such a vulnerable look in his eyes before. He'd always looked so confident, so suave, so... perfect. It was the only thing that convinced me that he meant what he said. "Okay," I told him slowly, "I believe you. And if it wasn't your fault, I can't exactly be mad at you..."

He smiled, relieved. But then, I added, "That doesn't mean we're going back to how it was, though," I told him and his smile dropped. "Maybe another day, but right now I just need some time..."

"If you'll let me take you to Hogsmeade tomorrow, I promise—" he began, but I stopped him before he could say any more.

"I've already promised you that I'd come to Hogsmeade. I'd warn you to tread lightly, though," I told him with a small smile before leaving the little alcove with no expression on my face, although on the inside I was bursting with happiness because he really hadn't intentionally hurt me after all... Because he _cared_ about me.

* * *

><p>Even when he was leaving, Malfoy had his usual confident swagger back, which was a bit of a relief. It had been pretty strange to see him upset like that. His face was still covered in purple splotches, though, and I doubted he could hear anything because there was now twice as much blue fuzz growing on his ears than there was before.<p>

The girls came to talk to me when they finally returned from doing Circe-knows-what. "We fixed Malfoy for you," Dom said with a grin.

"How'd you know he finally needed fixing?" I laughed.

Rose rolled her eyes. "The way he was behaving, it was obvious that you two had made up..."

I giggled. "I feel kind of bad about what we've done to him this past week, since it's not even his fault that she kissed him."

"What do you mean?" Jenny asked, eyebrows raised.

"Elizabeth practically threw herself at him. She really is a whore," I grinned. "I guess I just walked in at the worst possible moment."

"Are you sure?" Dom asked suspiciously.

I laughed, "Of course I am. Liz isn't above that, you know."

"But are you sure that he was telling the truth? What if he lied to you just to get you back?"

"And why would he be so miserable and repentant if he _wasn't_ innocent?"

"Who knows?" Dom shrugged. "Boys can be just as manipulative as we are."

Rose interrupted, "Correction: you are."

Dom crossed her arms and shot Rose a glare as Jenny and I burst into laughter.

After we had finally calmed down, although Dom was still shooting Rose venomous looks, I told her, "Scorpius just doesn't seem the type."

"Whatever you say," Dom shrugged. "But don't come crying to me if you find him cheating on you someday."

I grinned, "I most definitely won't, because he never will."

* * *

><p>Al confronted me about Scorpius the next day, stopping me in the middle of the hall on my way to Charms.<p>

"Lily, are you dating Scorpius?" he asked bluntly.

I rolled my eyes. "Way to get to the point, Al. And yes."

"I need to talk to him..." he growled. After a moment, an irritated expression crossed his face and he said, "Why'd you have to start dating my _best_ _friend_? This makes everything about ten times more complicated!"

"It's not like I specifically chose him because he was your best friend, Albus," I said defensively, using his given name as I did when I was annoyed with him. "I chose him because I actually liked him, unlike those immature blokes that keep trying to ask me out. Wouldn't you rather have me date someone you can _trust_ rather than someone who could, I don't know, take advantage of me?"

Grudgingly, he said, "That's true... But I still don't appreciate you dating him! And if he hurts you, I'm never speaking to him again. No one hurts my little sister..."

I rolled my eyes. "No need to be so protective of me, Al. You shouldn't let our relationship get in the way of _yours_."

"It's my job to be protective of you!" Al exclaimed, drawing confused looks from the people walking past. "I'm your older brother," he said in a slightly lower voice. "If I let him hurt you in any way, I'd never hear the end of it from James. Or Mum. Or Dad. Or—"

"I get the point, Al," I interjected.

He sighed. "Okay, just be careful, all right?"

"Always," I smiled.

* * *

><p><strong>Scorpius POV:<strong>

During Potions, Al hastily scribbled something on a piece of parchment and shoved it over to me.

_So, you're dating my sister now?_ it read.

I scribbled a message in response:_ I'm surprised you haven't figured it out, you pansy._

He glared at me. _If you hurt her, I will rip you limb from limb._

_I'd never dream of it_, I wrote, stifling a laugh at the image of Al trying to rip me apart.

_Good_, he wrote. _Just don't tell her I said that. She'd kill me._

_It'll be our little secret,_ I wrote.

A cough from right next to us made us practically jump out of our seats. Professor Burnett towered over us, looking at us sternly. "I would appreciate it if you don't pass notes in class, boys," he admonished before returning to talking about whatever he was on about today. I noticed that several Gryffindors were glaring at us—probably because of the whole biased-towards-Slytherins thing that Burnett had going on. Hey, it wasn't _our_ fault that he was a bit impartial to us!

We breezed through, completing our assignment in half the time allotted and using our extra time to Transfigure scraps of parchment into mice, which we would charm purple, and then turn them into flowers, and would finally set them on fire. Throughout all of this, Professor Burnett completely ignored our antics and chose instead to take points away from Gryffindor on behalf of Alice Longbottom, who was frightfully clumsy. Her potion was a slime-green color and smelled of rotten eggs; she'd added far too many doxy eggs, it seemed. Longbottom had spilled some on her partner, whose name I didn't know, and the poor girl was shrieking in pain as the potion started to eat away at her uniform and burn her skin.

"Off to the Hospital Wing you go, Miss... Tallium, is it?"

She nodded, already halfway out the door in her haste to get to Madam Pomfrey.

Burnett turned to Longbottom. "Miss Longbottom, please clean up that mess and polish your cauldron. I have given you a zero for the day; please try not to injure your peers next time."

Longbottom turned beet-red and hurried to Vanish the contents of the cauldron, but instead of making it disappear, there was a loud _crack_ and then a _boom_, and when the smoke cleared, Alice Longbottom no longer had a cauldron. Or eyebrows.

* * *

><p><strong>Lily POV:<strong>

"Poor Alice," I murmured to Dom as we left Potions to go to dinner. "We might be able to fix her eyebrows, but I don't know about that scar she's got on her hand... _And_ she's got three detentions with Burnett. What a nightmare..."

"I know! What an arsehole... It wasn't really her fault that her potion ended up like that. Mary was the one who spilled half of her doxy eggs into the cauldron," Rose frowned.

Dom complained, "And I can't believe he still gets away with treating the Slytherins so much better than us! Goyle's potion fucking _exploded_ and Burnett just ignored it! I almost puked from the fumes coming from that thing..."

"Me, too," Jenny groaned. "I still feel nauseous..."

None of us felt up to eating anything at dinner, so we all headed up to the common room ten minutes in. Once we'd reached our dorm, I plopped down on my bed before looking to my left and seeing a lily on my pillow. It looked like one of those everlasting lilies that they sell at the florist's and just like the one Scorpius had given me the night of the ball. I tucked it into my hair as Dom piped up, "Who sent you that, Lily? Is it a certain blonde-haired boy we all know and _you_ love?"

I scoffed, but I couldn't keep the smile off of my face. "I would think so, Dom."

"You do realize that there's a piece of paper wrapped around it, don't you?" Rose informed me.

Pulling it out of my hair, I looked at the lily in surprise. _That_ certainly hadn't been there when I'd first picked it up. Unwrapping the little scrap of parchment, I peered at the note written in Scorpius's elegant handwriting.

_Come to the terrace as soon as you get this... I have a surprise for you._

_-Scorpius_

I smiled at the note before Dom interrupted my thoughts by saying, "Aren't you going to tell us what's on it?"

"Nope!" I grinned as I skipped out of the room, almost giddy with excitement.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: That was quick, right? xD I think you'll really like what I've got for you next chapter...  
>Here's a sneak preview:<strong>

_And just like the night of the ball, we were dancing, gliding along the floor. It was almost as if we were floating; it was so magical—but not in the literal sense. We were lost in our own world, just Scorpius and me, dancing the night away._

** It's short, but it's all I'm giving you for now. ;) If you want the rest, review!**


	14. Chapter 14

**A/N: So in the last three days, I've only gotten four reviews. After last chapter's response, I was expecting at least a few more... tsk, tsk.  
>Anyways, I hope you appreciate THIS chapter enough to review. I think you'll like it. A lot. Since I won't be here for the next week (spring break and all that...) I'll just be putting this up and I most likely won't have chapter 15 done by the time I get back, but who knows? You might get a surprise in the middle of the week if you just REVIEW! :D Anyways, here's your chapter!<strong>

**Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter or anything associated with it. **

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><p>Scorpius smiled as soon as he saw me as I came through the entranceway to the hidden terrace.<p>

"Excited to see me?" I grinned.

He rolled his eyes. "Just follow me," he told me, striding away.

I followed him up flight after flight of stairs, through unfamiliar passages and twisting and turning corridors. Finally, we arrived at a spot on the seventh floor, right across from the tapestry of Barnabas the Barmy's pitiful attempt to teach trolls to do ballet.

"Where are we, Scorpius?" I asked, puzzled, as he began pacing back and forth.

Suddenly, a large door appeared. A wave of understanding flooded through me. "The Room of Requirement..." I gasped in awe. "My father said it was destroyed during the Final Battle..."

"It repaired itself," Scorpius shrugged. "It still looks a bit beaten up, but whatever magic it's got has been helping to repair the room since then, it seems."

We walked in and I gave an audible gasp at our surroundings. It was a beautiful ballroom, albeit with a few scratches here and there—probably evidence of the damage done by the Fiendfyre. The walls were lined with slightly-charred golden drapes, and the walls themselves were a lovely, metallic red. Gryffindor colors. I noticed, however, in the chandelier perched in the middle of the room, there were some emeralds, and the chandelier itself was made of diamonds—Slytherin colors. The chandelier cast a beautiful light on the rest of the room, which was empty for the time being.

I raised my eyebrows. "Creative of you."

"I have quite an imagination," he grinned. "Would you like a dance?"

"Of course," I smiled in return. And just like the night of the ball, we were dancing, gliding along the floor. It was almost as if we were floating; it was so magical—but not in the literal sense. We were lost in our own world, just Scorpius and me, dancing the night away.

* * *

><p>We were kissing, for how long I wasn't sure. I could feel the heat between us, the electricity I felt every time he touched me, the energy I felt when we were together. We toppled onto a bed that hadn't been there a moment ago, and we were both gasping for air as we continued, slowly shedding our clothes.<p>

Suddenly, I came back to reality and realized what we were about to do. "Scorpius," I gasped as he kissed his way down my neck, "Stop—stop for a second..." My head was spinning and I could barely get the words out; I was too lost in the sensations.

He looked up at me, seeming to have spiraled down to the present as well. "Oh... Oh, Merlin... I'm sorry, Lily."

I shook my head. "It's okay... It's not like you were taking advantage of me. If I really hadn't wanted anything to happen I would've stopped you in the beginning. It's just that I'm not ready for... _this_ yet. We've only been dating for a week..."

"I understand," he smiled wanly. "I think we both just got caught up in the moment."

Nodding, I gave him a quick peck on the lips and started to redress myself, feeling his eyes on me the whole time. Checking my reflection in a mirror that had appeared against the wall, I sighed as I took in my ruffled appearance. A clock on the wall told me that it was nearly midnight.

"Shit," I muttered. "How am I supposed to get back to the common room now?"

Scorpius, who had come up behind me while I was distracted and was still half-dressed, said, "Why don't we just stay here the whole night?"

"Because," I snapped, "Who knows what we'll get up to if we're left alone together for any longer?"

"You're right," he said, grinning devilishly, "_You_ have no idea what we'd do if we were left alone together for any longer... I, however..."

I rolled my eyes. "I really have to go, Scorpius..."

"Fine," he told me breezily, "Get caught looking like _that_ by Filch..."

My eyes widened in horror. "Maybe I _should_ stay... But promise me we won't do anything, all right?"

"What do you mean by anything?" his eyes sparkled mischievously.

"Fine, let's just say we won't have sex or anything tonight. Okay?"

"Of course," he grinned. "It doesn't mean, though, that we can't do _this_..."

And then we were kissing again. Our bodies seemed to fuse together as we stood there like that for Circe-knows-how-long and just kissed before I finally pulled away—albeit reluctantly—and murmured, "We ought to go to bed..."

He responded, "We _ought_ to... But we won't."

* * *

><p>In the morning, I woke up with a start. Groggily glancing up around me, I felt confused: where was I? This was <em>definitely<em> not the Gryffindor girls' dorm...

After a few moments, I realized that I was in the Room of Requirement... And last night... Oh, _Circe_.

At least I hadn't lost my virginity. If that was even something to be thankful for...

A mirror appeared in front of me. My hair was a bird's nest atop my head, and I looked simply awful. At that thought, a shower appeared next to me and I gladly stepped in under the hot spray. Thoroughly washing myself, I checked around for some shampoo, and Madam Sleakeazy's newest line of shampoos and conditioners—my personal favorite—materialized and I gladly squirted some out onto my hand as I felt a hand touch my shoulder.

I jumped and screamed loudly, dropping the bottle of shampoo, which floated back up to the wire basket on the wall, and spun around to see Scorpius standing there. Naked.

"What the fuck are you _doing_, Malfoy?" I yelled.

"Going back to old habits, are you, Potter?" he grinned.

I rolled my eyes. "Shut up. Why are you taking a shower with me?"

"To save time. Obviously. We have a Hogsmeade date today!"

I'd completely forgotten. "Oh... Crap..."

"Don't worry. I have everything planned. I knew you'd forget about it..."

My arms crossed, I glared at him before snapping, "Don't change the subject! You are _not_ getting away with taking a shower with me 'to save time!' We have all the time we need, all right?"

"But I don't like getting out of the shower after I get in," he pouted.

"You are whether you like it or not!" I told him indignantly.

He continued to pout like a toddler. "You're so bossy!"

I rolled my eyes. "Stop acting like a child, Scorpius..."

"Okay," he said easily, eyes sparkling mischievously. "Would you prefer I act like a _man_?"

And then I was pressed against the wall of the shower as he kissed me for... who knows how long. We stood there, in the middle of the shower, tongues battling as our breaths grew more and more ragged, each kiss more passionate, before I felt something against my thigh.

"Scorpius?" I said, pulling away.

He turned red. "Sorry... I shouldn't have gotten so carried away. Again."

"It's all right... Like I said, it was both of our faults, right?"

"Yeah," he mumbled, still embarrassed.

And then the shower turned really, _really_ cold.

* * *

><p>"Please don't tell me we're going to Madam Puddifoot's," I groaned. Somehow, after all these years, the blasted place had managed to stay open, thanks to those awful lovey-dovey couples that insisted on going there for their oh-so-romantic dates. Blech.<p>

Scorpius smirked. "Like I would put either of us through _that_ kind of torture."

I breathed a sigh of relief. "Thank goodness, I don't think I could have lived through it if you tried."

"Well, we wouldn't want you dead, would we?" came a voice from behind me and we both turned to see Dom, Jenny, and Rose giggling at us as we both flushed a bit at their expressions.

"Hi..." I said, feeling strangely awkward.

Dom grinned. "So, where'd you two get off to last night? Our little Lily didn't come back to the dorm... All night..."

At this, the other two tittered and I gave them a menacing glare, which they just continued to giggle at.

"We weren't doing anything anyone would be ashamed of," I told them confidently. "But it's still none of your business."

"Looks like Lily has something to hide!" Jenny laughed.

"I have nothing to hide!" I exclaimed defensively. "I'm just telling you to keep your nose in your own business!"

Rose winked at me. "I'm sure you don't, Lily. You can fill us in later."

And with that, the three girls were off to Honeydukes, probably for some more licorice wands and Chocolate Frogs.

"Three Broomsticks?" Scorpius suggested after a moment.

I nodded gratefully; it was a bit uncomfortable standing out in the cold. We headed into the warm pub, which was nearly full with all of the students crowded in. Scorpius and I managed to find a comfortable booth near the middle and ordered a Butterbeer each.

"So," he said, taking a sip of his drink. "Why don't we get to know each other better?"

I shrugged. "Okay. I'll go first... What's your favorite color?"

"Green, of course," he smirked. "What's yours?"

"Red," I told him with a giggle. "Obviously. What do you like to do in your spare time?"

He thought for a moment. "I read a lot. And those Muggle devices fascinate me..."

"Not something you'd expect from a Malfoy," I remarked, raising an eyebrow.

"I'm not a typical Malfoy, Lily," he said easily. "Now... What're _your_ hobbies?"

And so it continued, at least until Rose, Dom, and Jenny walked in and interrupted us. Again.

"Hey, Lily!" Dom yelled, which caused a few heads to turn. "How's your date going?"

"Yeah!" Rose added at a similar volume. "Is it how you expected it to be?"

I buried my head in my arms and groaned. My friends were going to be the death of me...

* * *

><p>I returned to the dorm with my arms laden with books, as well as various sweets from Honeydukes, but I nearly dropped them when I walked through the door. Rushing out immediately and taking a seat on the couch in the common room, I tried not the think of the scene I had just encountered—Rose and Aidan Price (who <em>knows<em> how he managed to get up there) had been doing _it_ on my bed!

_I'm going to kill her,_ I thought venomously. _She'd better change the sheets..._

Dom and Jenny plopped down on either side of me, grinning. "What're you doing in the common room with all of that stuff?" Jenny asked.

"Rose and Aidan are having sex on my bed," I told them bluntly.

Dom wrinkled her nose. "On _your_ bed? Why not her own?"

"Who knows? But that girl is _dead_ when she gets back out here."

Jenny frowned before changing the subject. "So, how did your date go?"

"Fine," I told them, rolling my eyes. "We had a good time. And before you ask, we didn't really do anything last night. We just... fell asleep," I finished lamely.

"Sure you did," Dom giggled.

I huffed in frustration. "Seriously, Dom. We didn't!"

"So, how much did it hurt?" she continued, acting as if I hadn't spoken.

Slapping her arm, I said, "I did _not_ lose my virginity last night!"

Thank Circe there hadn't been anyone else in the common room at that moment. It would have been _awkward_...

"Fine," Dom finally surrendered.

After a few moments, Jenny said, "I hope Rose comes down soon. I need to finish my essay for Potions..."

"I still can't believe she decided to do it with him on _my_ bed! Why not Dom's? Or at least hers?" Dom glared at me when I suggested her bed, but I ignored her.

We continued to complain about Rose for a while until she and Aidan Price finally came down looking very satisfied, only to find the three of us glaring daggers at them.

Rose turned red, and so did Aidan as they realized that we knew _exactly_ what they'd been doing prior to coming down.

Still red-faced with embarrassment, Aidan hurried out the portrait hole and left, leaving Rose to face our wrath. I was first.

"Come _on_, Rose, why'd you have to choose _my_ bed?" I whined. "You could have at least taken the five extra steps to get to yours..."

Before she could open her mouth, Jenny said, "And I've been waiting to get in there so I could finish my essay for at least twenty minutes! I could've been using the extra time to do something _productive_..."

"But that means he's good," Dom grinned, wiggling her eyebrows.

"And that he is," Rose replied, looking smug.

Dom winked at her. "You have good taste, Rosie..."

Jenny and I huffed and walked back up towards our dorm. "By the way, Rose," I called over my shoulder, "You'd better change my sheets!"

She turned bright red.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: See? I told you you'd like it. If you want another chapter during the next week... review!  
><strong>**Just a note for anyone who might be interested: I'm looking for a beta, so if you'd like just PM me (and please explain how that actually works, because I have no idea. xD) and I'll get back to you ASAP.**


	15. Chapter 15: Luck

**A/N: I know, it's been over a week since I last updated. But I was on vacation, all right?  
><strong>**Anyways, this chapter was beta'd by the lovely FreezingSapphires! (Thank you so much for the help! :D)  
><strong>**I'm probably not going to be having any more chapters beta'd after this... Unless all of you think that I need to? I don't know, I usually catch one or two mistakes while I'm going through this, but I still probably miss a few things. Regardless, I hope you enjoy this chapter and thank you to all who have reviewed/followed/favorited!  
><strong>**And please, please, please review!**

**Disclaimer: Harry Potter & all things related belong to JKR. Unless they're my OCs. THEN they're mine. xD**

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><p>Scorpius and I walked together to class on Monday, hand in hand. It attracted a lot of stares, but we didn't care; people could gossip all they wanted, but we'd do what we want to regardless of what they thought.<p>

Dom refused to let me sit with him during class, much to my (and Scorpius's) disdain. Neither of us really minded, though. It was just History of Magic, after all.

I couldn't focus. Partly because Professor Binns was unbelievably boring, and partially because Scorpius kept turning back and glancing at me or smiling. Next to me, Dom was making gagging sounds, but I easily ignored her.

After class, she complained, "You really didn't need to look at each other like that during the _entire_ class... It was vomit-inducing! Honestly, you two are the most..." And then she trailed off, mumbling angrily to herself.

Rose joined us, on her way to lunch from Ancient Runes. "What's with Dom?" she asked.

Before I could say anything, Dom piped up, "Lily and Malfoy were making _eyes_ at each other for the whole class. It was disgusting! I'm surprised no one else noticed..."

"You're one to talk!" I retorted. "You and Aidan did that all class during Potions last week... He dropped half his Gurdyroots in his potion and it exploded, all because he couldn't take his eyes off of you!"

"It's not my fault I'm gorgeous," Dom grinned.

I gave her a withering glare. "Bloody part-Veela..." I muttered under my breath.

"I heard that!" she said, trying to give me a glare, even though we all knew she was holding back a laugh.

Out of nowhere came Scorpius, thank Circe... I never would have been able to stand all the eyes on me when I walked into the Great Hall. "Mind if I steal my Lilykins from you for a moment?" he said smoothly.

Dom and Rose giggled. "By all means," Rose said, still laughing.

I rolled my eyes at them and left with Scorpius, following him down countless corridors and who _knew_ how many twists and turns. Noticing my curious look in his direction, Scorpius said, "There was a Ravenclaw girl following us. Probably looking for a bit of gossip; no doubt we've lost her now."

"And what are we going to do, now that we're alone?" I asked, biting my lip to hide my grin.

"You know _exactly_ what we're going to do," he said, his face just inches from mine, before he closed the distance between us.

* * *

><p>"So, Lily. Still a virgin?" smirked Dom as we walked to Care of Magical Creatures.<p>

"Yes, Dom. I don't really plan on losing it any time soon."

"Not even to a certain _dashing_ young man named Scorpius Malfoy?" she continued in her best impression of our cousin Molly (who, for some odd reason, always spoke just like that).

"This isn't a conversation I'm having in the middle of the hall," I hissed, noticing the people listening to us attentively.

Dom huffed. "Fine. But you'd better _spill_ once we get back to the common room."

"If it gets you off my back..." I muttered.

Dom kept wiggling her eyebrows at me suggestively—which, honestly, she does way too much—during Care of Magical Creatures, causing me to swing and completely miss half of the pixies we were supposed to be catching. They giggled and flew away, and by the end of class I had the least amount of pixies caught by anyone. Dom smirked at me evilly as I huffed in frustration.

Finally, in the common room after dinner, I snapped.

"DOM! THERE IS NO WAY THAT I HAVE LOST OR WILL LOSE MY VIRGINITY ANY TIME SOON, ALL RIGHT?"

The silence that filled the common room was absolutely deafening.

After a few long moments, Rose remarked, "Well, Al'll be glad to hear that."

"And that I am," he replied from the portrait hole, walking over to us with a grin. "Nice way to announce that, Lily."

"How'd you even get in here?" I asked him crossly.

"Half of my family is in this house, how d'you expect me _not_ to know?"

Dom piped up, "Yeah, Lily... And by the way, I'm the one who told him this time."

"Well," I told him, "You picked a good time to come in, I guess. I mean, if you heard people gossiping about the fact that I'm still a virgin, you probably wouldn't react well..."

Al rolled his eyes. "I think I should be happy that you were saying _that_, rather than that you weren't, in fact, a virgin..."

I snorted, "You'd probably put whoever took it in the hospital wing for a month."

"I'd be ashamed of myself if I didn't," he said proudly.

* * *

><p>"SPIDERS!" someone shrieked from the Hufflepuff table. Several people began to scream and soon half of the school was up and running from the Hall as quickly as possible.<p>

I tried not to scream, too, when what seemed like a whole _nest_ of spiders swarmed out from underneath the table. Circe knows where they came from...

Dom and Rose had jumped up on the table, screaming, and Jenny just sat there as if nothing was happening at all, continuing to eat her dinner. I tucked my legs up to my chest to keep my feet away from the rapidly-approaching spiders as shrieks continued to come from, well... somewhere.

Several spiders scuttled up the tables, getting closer and closer to me, as well as the rest of the food and Dom and Rose's feet. One crawled onto Jenny's leg. She only looked mildly disgusted as she pulled the spider off her by one of its limbs and tossed it to the side, conjuring a chair and charming it to float so that she could eat in peace. Dom and Rose only screamed in horror and jumped off the table, running out of the room with the rest of the student body, leaving me just sitting there and looking around at the approaching spiders in horror.

Scorpius, who was calmly floating like Jenny was, smirked at me from across the room. "Scared, Lily?" he mouthed. I shot him a glare and tried to get the spiders away from me with an empty plate.

Not even the Head Table had been spared. Madam Hooch seemed to be making some kind of shrill squawking sound, while Professor McGonagall was easily Vanishing any spiders that came near her. Professor Flitwick was doing the same, while most of the other teachers seemed to have forgotten the fact that they could use magic to get rid of the creatures. Meanwhile, remembering that my wand was in my pocket, I began to Vanish the spiders as well before conjuring a cushion to sit on. A moment later, it was hovering in the air and I gladly hopped on, floating over to where Scorpius sat, clearly suppressing a laugh.

"Took you long enough," he said, chuckling at the stern glare I gave him.

"Shut up," I hissed, annoyed. "It's not my fault I have an irrational fear of spiders!"

"Then whose is it?" he asked with a raised eyebrow.

I sighed. "Just shut up, Scorpius."

He grinned as we started to float out of the Great Hall before we heard someone screech, "GET THESE GODDAMNED THINGS OFF ME!"

It was Elizabeth Whitby. There were spiders literally all over her and she was shrieking and screaming as she tried in vain to get them off.

As we passed her, I cackled, "Serves you right, you twat."

She opened her mouth to retort, but the spiders began crawling _into_ it and she went back to wordlessly shrieking as she tried to get them off of her. I supposed she'd forgotten about the fact that she could use magic.

By the time we were out, Scorpius and I were nearly keeling over with laughter. "I wonder whose idea _that_ was," I finally said after my last giggles had died away.

"Ask your brother," Scorpius grinned, looking over my shoulder.

I turned around to see Al standing there with a satisfied smirk on his face. It suited him. "You're welcome."

"Thanks, Al," I rolled my eyes. "So it was you who planned this? How'd you get away with it?"

"It was partly Scorp's idea," he admitted. "Uncle George sent me one of his new prototypes. Said I might have a chance to test it out, so I figured, what with what Liz Whitby did to you, tonight was a good chance to do it."

Slightly confused, I asked, "But how'd you get them to mainly go for _her_?"

"That was just luck," he responded.

"I guess it just decided that it was on our side," said Scorpius with a laugh.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: PLEASE review! I promise, if I see that I've gotten five or more reviews (no matter when it is, even though I update every other day), I'll post the next chapter IMMEDIATELY. At least, as soon as I can get to a computer... So if you want your chapters quicker, just know that I appreciate each and every one... Thanks for reading!**


	16. Chapter 16

**A/N: Thank you to the three of you who reviewed last chapter, and everyone who has favorited/followed!  
><strong>**I probably won't be updating every other day for the next couple of weeks, but I should at least be updating maybe 2-3 times a week? (if not more.)  
><strong>**Please, please, please don't forget to drop a review! It only takes a few seconds, and I appreciate every one so please... Make my day!**

**Hehe, this chapter is obviously VERY out of season, but I thought I'd have to get to the winter holidays at some point... so here it is! I think you'll like it.**

**Disclaimer: JKR owns everything Harry Potter, minus my OCs.**

* * *

><p>"FINALLY!" Dom yelled as we left the castle. "Winter hols... CHRISTMAS!"<p>

I rolled my eyes. "Ever so enthusiastic, Dom..."

"Who wouldn't be excited for the holidays? Don't be a downer, Lily!" Jenny chirped.

"Yeah!" Rose added. "Christmas with _our_ family is always fun..."

Dom grinned. "Remember last year? James was so drunk last year that he tried to kiss one of Molly's friends and she hexed him so badly that—"

"We all remember, Dom," I cut in, shuddering. "No one wants to see that image in their head ever again..."

"Yeah, I don't think I'd appreciate it," Jenny grimaced.

Rose giggled. "I'm glad I didn't see it, then! Hugo told me all about it after, but I suppose it would have been more fun to see it in action..."

"You really wouldn't say that if you were actually there," I muttered. "I'm scarred for life..."

"I'm sure it wasn't _that_ bad," she said flippantly.

Jenny laughed. "You have no idea, Rose."

"I'm sure I do!" she defended, apparently trying to uphold her "reputation" for knowing everything. "I can _picture_ it, I—"

Rose stopped short when she saw who was walking in. It was Scorpius and his brainless friends, who were looking around somewhat dazedly as Scorpius waltzed in, smirking as he drawled, "You can picture _what_, Weasley?"

"Oh, hush, Scorpius," I chided as he sat next to me, leaving the still-confused goons standing in the doorway, seemingly lost. "We were just talking about an... event at least year's Christmas reunion."

Dom giggled at the mention of it again, Jenny looked a bit green, and Rose continued to look indignant—she probably was still annoyed at the fact that Jenny thought she didn't, in fact, know everything there was to know.

Scorpius raised an eyebrow. "Judging by your friends' expressions, I don't think I should ask."

"You have good judgment," Jenny grinned.

"Yeah," Dom added, "If you heard about what happened, you'd never be able to look James in the eye again..."

"Sometimes I still can't," said Jenny with a sheepish smile.

Rose giggled. "Me neither."

This time both of his eyebrows rose. "Well, now I _really_ don't want to know."

"You have a smart boyfriend, Lily... He knows that knowing the truth isn't always a good thing!" Dom said, winking at me.

"If you say so, Dom," I said, rolling my eyes. "Let's just hope that nothing happens this year, since apparently Dad has invited his family to our Christmas party."

"What about New Year's Eve?" Jenny asked.

"It's at the Longbottoms' this year, of course!" Dom said matter-of-factly. Jenny looked confused as to why it was so (apparently) obvious, so she continued, "Since pretty much everyone in the Weasley-Potter clan—and all of their friends—wants to host the Christmas and New Year's Eve parties, they've pretty much set up a timetable... We've all got a copy of one."

Jenny pouted, demanding playfully, "Then why don't _I_ have one?"

"I guess I forgot!" Dom grinned, duplicating hers. "See? There's the list of the order it goes in, and it's charmed to show who's hosting what this year!"

"That's brilliant," Jenny said in awe.

"I know! Uncle George figured it out... Aunt Hermione seemed a little pissed that someone other than her was brilliant for once," she laughed.

Rose glared at her. "My mum was _not_ jealous!"

"Who said she was?" Dom teased.

"Hey, where's mine?" Scorpius piped up from next to me. I rolled my eyes, pulling out my own and duplicating it for him. He happily took it and shoved it into his bag as the trolley lady arrived.

"Anything off the trolley, dears?"

Dom and Rose exchanged a strange look and proceeded to buy out half the trolley, levitating their sweets back to our compartment, as there was way too much for them to carry.

Scorpius's mouth seemed to be watering at the _sight_ of them, immediately grabbing a licorice wand. I huffed, "And why do you never get like this when you're with _me_?"

Dom, Rose, and Jenny burst out laughing, while Scorpius just smirked and continued to eat from the large pile of sweets, saying, "I am. You just need to be more attentive."

I scowled. "I _am_ attentive!"

"Not really," supplied Dom.

"You're not helping my case!" I growled.

"But you aren't!" Jenny added.

Rose smiled innocently. "Far from it, honestly."

I glared at them all before muttering, "I'll believe it when I see it."

"But you won't!" Jenny giggled.

With a seductive smirk, Scorpius said, "Well, we'll see who's right sooner or later..."

* * *

><p>"IT'S CHRISTMAS!" I screamed as soon as I got out of bed.<p>

I began banging on the walls of my brothers' rooms, bursting into Al's—which looked like someone had used the Reductor curse on it or something—to find him moaning, "It's four-thirty in the bloody morning... Just let us sleep..."

"IT'S CHRISTMAS!" I yelled again. "AREN'T YOU EXCITED?"

Al mumbled something unintelligible.

"ALBUS SEVERUS POTTER! WAKE UP THIS INSTANT OR I'LL DUMP A BUCKET OF COLD WATER ON YOU!"

Finally cracking his eyes open, he said groggily, "Way to start your Christmas..."

"Just wake up, Al!" I grinned, dashing out of his room to get James. By then, my parents were up and about, my dad drinking his usual cup of coffee, my mother cooking bacon and eggs for our breakfast.

The door to James's room opened with a bang as I slammed it open, effectively waking him up. "Happy Christmas, Lily..." he managed to say before falling asleep again.

"WAKE UP, JAMES!" I exclaimed, jumping up and down on his mess of a bed.

He said something that I couldn't make out, and then, "Just shut the bloody hell up, Lily..."

"I WILL NOT 'SHUT THE BLOODY HELL UP,' YOU LITTLE—"

"Lily! No cursing!" Al chimed from the door, smirking mischievously. He must've picked it up from Scorpius; it was his signature smirk. I swear.

I rolled my eyes. "Fine, Al. Just make him get up!"

Al grinned and walked over to James, leaning down so his head was right by James's ear, whispering, "Good morning, James... If you don't wake up, I'll hex you so badly that you won't be able to have sex for a week..."

James's eyes opened, an expression of horror on his face. "I can't have sex for a week? WHAT?"

Al and I were both on the floor, laughing hysterically by then, and James looked at us, a bewildered look crossing his face before he said stubbornly, "I didn't actually fall for it. I was just playing along."

"If you say so," Al laughed, still shaking with laughter.

"Just get up, James!" I smacked him with a pillow before running from the room.

As soon as I burst into the kitchen—once again—I yelled, "IT'S CHRISTMAS!"

"As always, you have an incredible amount of Christmas spirit..." my dad chuckled, handing me a plate loaded with Mum's eggs and bacon.

I eagerly started shoveling food into my mouth, hurrying so that I could open my presents. It was always tradition to eat breakfast (after waking up my brothers, of course) before opening the presents that were stacked at the foot of my bed; I don't know why, but it was just how things worked on our household.

"Don't eat so fast, Lily! You'll get a stomachache!" Mum chided as I continued to devour the contents of the plate.

I grinned, finishing off the last wonderful bits of food—almost as good as the food at Hogwarts, honestly!—just as Al and James entered the kitchen, somehow still in their pajamas.

"Done before we even come in, as usual," James said, rolling his eyes as he heaped a mountain of eggs on his plate.

"Well, I get to open my presents before you do!" I taunted childishly, sticking my tongue out before sprinting back to my room.

At the foot of my bed was the usual overly-large pile of presents. I decided to start from the top. Ripping the red and gold wrapping off, I took the top of a box off to reveal an exquisite porcelain doll. I read the note that came with it to see that it was from Uncle Bill and Aunt Fleur—who'd just traveled the world to celebrate their retirement—and continued to unwrap my numerous presents: a makeup set from Dom (how predictable! She'd been hinting at it for ages...), a lovely Muggle-style outfit (yet very clearly the robes of a witch, in a way, if that makes sense) from Rose that fit the wearer, an assortment of sweets from Honeydukes from Jenny, a set of Holyhead Harpies (my favorite team, partly because of Mum) jerseys from Al, Aunt Hermione's latest translated edition of The Tales of Beedle the Bard from James (how did he know?), a beautiful jewelry set containing a a simple necklace with a gold chain and a teardrop-shaped diamond pendant with a tiny, tiny ruby set at the tip, as well as a similar pair of earrings from Mum and Dad (seeing this, I ran down the stairs and screamed "THANK YOU!" and hugged them both before running back to my room, yelling "IT'S CHRISTMAS!" again and again); what seemed like half the stock of Weasley's Wizard Wheezes from Uncle George, Aunt Angelina, Fred, and Roxy; a framed picture of my mum and dad from Uncle Percy and Aunt Audrey (they've always been cheapskates, honestly; last year, they gave me three sickles and an ugly fuchsia throw pillow), some bizarre wigs from Molly and Lucy, a small notebook filled with drawings of Crumple-Horned Snorkacks and the like from the Scamanders, a lovely potted plant that I couldn't name from Uncle Neville and Aunt Hannah, and a pair of rose-colored glasses from Teddy and Victoire. (Phew.)

Trying the glasses on, I felt a burst of happiness and elation and everything around me visibly brightened. Slightly confused, I took them off and immediately felt the feelings disappear. I stared at the pair of glasses for a minute before realizing exactly what they were._ Rose-colored glasses,_ I thought with a grin. _They make you feel happy and see everything in a brighter light! Remind me to thank Teddy and Vic when they come later..._

As I began to pick the fallen wrapping from the presents up, I noticed a slim black box on the ground. _Huh_, I thought, confused._ I didn't notice that before..._

Slowly, I picked it up and took the lid off to reveal a dress that was, simply put, incredible. I lifted the dress out of the box and examined it, laying it out on my bed. It was a deep crimson color and had a plunging neckline, but didn't go far enough down to make Mum force me to change into something else. It looked like the kind of dress that would hug someone's body in all the right places, showing off whatever curves I might have... Glancing down at the box again, I saw a small card. In handwriting that was ridiculously neat in a very familiar way, it said, _Merry Christmas, Lily! Wear this tonight—I've been dying to see you in it. -Scorpius_

I smiled and carefully folded the dress, setting the card on top and gently put the lid back on before pushing it under my bed—I wanted this to be a surprise to everyone.

* * *

><p>"OH MY GOD, LILY, YOU LOOK GORGEOUS!" the unmistakable voice of Dom squealed.<p>

"Can you guess who it was from?" I said, as Dom and Rose beamed at me, dusting the ash off their clothes.

"_Scorpius_ got that for you?" Rose gasped.

At that moment, Jenny stepped out from the fireplace in a lovely, red form-fitting dress that went down to a few inches below her knees. "What have I missed?" she said cheerily.

"Scorpius gave Lily her dress!" squealed Dom once again.

Jenny gaped at me. "_That_ dress? But... but it must have cost a fortune!"

"I know!" Rose gushed. "All she needs now is a little makeup..."

I frowned. "I am _not_ going to be your little doll again," I started, but I was cut off as all three of them dragged me up the stairs, exclaiming about how wonderful I was going to look after they were done.

After doing all sorts of things to my face with potions, glamours, and various types of makeup for at least an hour, they were finally done. "See, Lily, that wasn't so bad, was it?" Dom asked rhetorically, looking very smug at the effect her work had on my appearance. Rose looked very happy with the way she'd styled my hair, although it was _really_ hurting my head. Jenny, who had been accessorizing, looked only slightly displeased; the whole time, she'd been complaining about how I didn't have _nearly_ enough accessories. She had gone through so many by the end that I still had no idea which ones she'd used on me.

"Ready to see yourself?" Rose grinned. Before I could respond, they spun me around to face the mirror.

I gasped. My hair was elegantly styled in a simple-looking French twist on top of my head, but closer inspection would show that there were tiny, intricate braids studded with tiny rubies (where did _those_ come from?) woven into my hair here and there. My actual hair was shining radiantly in the light—it must've been the effect of one of the potions they'd used. Really, if I was going to look _this_ good, it was worth the pain.

Looking at my actual face, I saw that my makeup had been done just as well; a light, golden-hued eyeshadow that was just barely there made my green eyes shine in the light, and my newly-plucked eyebrows looked flawless; a hint of blush had been dusted onto my cheeks, and Dom had used just a smidge of red lipstick to create that "sexy, just kissed look" that she always strived to achieve.

Jenny had put my presents from Mum and Dad on, only adding to the look that Dom and Rose had been going for (Gryffindor spirit, I supposed), and had somehow conjured up a couple of thin, golden bangles for my wrists and my nails were painted scarlet with tiny golden flowers on my thumbnails. To my dress, she'd added a thin, gold-ish-yellow colored sash that was wrapped around my hips. And looking at the full image of myself in the mirror... I was completely and totally stunned.

"You three," I managed to say after a while of gaping openmouthed at myself (much to their pleasure), "are absolutely amazing."

Dom bowed. "I know I am," she winked.

"And what about us?" Rose demanded crossly, although we could all see the amusement in her eyes.

"I figured you two could speak for yourselves."

"Well, I think the two of us are pretty great, too," Jenny said happily. "Now, are we going to present our lovely Lily or what?"

"Oh, yes we are..."

I was led out of my room and down the stairs to the sitting room, where most of the guests already were sitting. On my way down, I spotted a familiar head of white-blonde hair, and as most of the guests turned around to see who was coming, he did too. His jaw hit the floor.

My parents beamed, clearly noticing that I was wearing their Christmas present. Al and James looked reasonably surprised as I came down the stairs, and then that protective-brother look crossed both of their faces as they came to meet me at the bottom.

"Maybe you should change, Lily," Al said quickly.

James looked uncomfortable. "Yeah, the guys here are going to be _all_ over you..."

"Let your sister have some fun, boys," Mum chided, cutting both of them off. "She looks beautiful!"

"Thanks, Mum," I smiled gratefully.

At that moment, Dom, Jenny, and Rose came down the stairs.

Like me, all three of them wore red dresses; Dom's was much shorter than Jenny's and had a lower neckline, but who didn't expect that from her? Her blonde hair was tied up in a loose bun, and she wore tiny gold studs as earrings, as well as gold eyeshadow and lipstick done like mine, but in a darker hue. Her eyebrows were charmed to look brown, too.

Rose's dress went down past her ankles so that you could only the the heels of her gold-colored heels, and her makeup was done like mine, while her hair was in an elegant fishtail and had several dainty golden clips. Her dress, unlike Dom's or Jenny's, had straps and a v-shaped neckline.

Jenny had put some more makeup on, probably before they had come down. Like the three of us, her makeup was done in the same style, but the shade of her lipstick was almost a blood-red color. Her hair was loose and flowed down her back, and somehow it looked like it was made of gold. She had a small red clip by her right ear and a gold bracelet dotted with rubies, as well as a necklace with a gold chain and ruby pendant. As it seemed, our theme was something to do with Gryffindor colors...

I saw several jaws drop as they descended the staircase, calm as can be. The fifty-something-years-old wizard next to me seemed to be salivating at the sight of them, and I resisted the urge to gag. Meanwhile, I saw a grinning Aidan Price make his way over to Rose, and Al—wait, _Al?_—head over to Jenny, while at least five different boys our age (not to mention the older fellows) shoved their way over to Dom, who shrugged them off easily and came over to me, smiling.

"Great start to the night, isn't it?"

Before I could respond, a certain white-blonde-haired Slytherin grabbed my arm and pulled me away to where several couples were dancing in our ballroom.

Our home was far from small; one could compare it to Malfoy Manor, I suppose. It was almost as big and had almost as many rooms, mainly because we often had guests, but otherwise a majority of the rooms went unused, except for when we had parties—who knows that went on in the guest rooms _then_? Maybe the house-elves... They were the ones who cleaned up after them, the poor things.

The ballroom was similar to the one Scorpius and I had danced in in the Room of Requirement, but a bit larger and less Gryffindor/Slytherin-themed. Instead, it somehow changed to fit the occasion, which was an impressive bit of magic in my opinion. Tonight, it was a lovely gold hue—as was the theme, it seemed—and there were random floating bits of mistletoe that were charmed to force any two people under it for more than two seconds to kiss.

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Al and Jenny dancing, practically beaming at each other, and my mouth almost dropped open in surprise. Al and Jenny? Why hadn't I seen it coming? Looking back, it was almost obvious—Jenny had seemed slightly disappointed at one point when I mentioned who Al was taking to the ball, while half the time, Al seemed to turn into a stuttering mess in her presence, but I'd always thought that it was because a girl he liked was somewhere nearby, while the whole time, she was right there... Not to mention the fact that Jenny had apparently had a crush on him for ages.

"Al and Jenny Lacewell, huh?" Scorpius said, breaking me out of my reverie.

"Yeah, I'm surprised that I didn't notice it before! They've clearly fancied each other for a while..."

He grinned. "Al's been fawning over her since second year."

"Then why didn't he take her to the ball?" I asked, puzzled.

"He couldn't get up the nerve," he chuckled. "That's probably why he wasn't sorted into Gryffindor..."

I rolled my eyes. "And you weren't either, I might add."

"Yeah, but the hat said I could be in Gryffindor if I really wanted to, but I had the cunning and ambition to be in Slytherin... And I honestly didn't care what house I went into."

During our entire conversation, we'd been gracefully waltzing across the floor, drawing jealous glances from people like Liz Whitby—how the hell did _she_ get there?—as we chatted easily. I noticed that James, Mum, and Dad, as well as both of Scorpius's parents were gaping at us. _Oh, shit,_ I mentally groaned. _I forgot to tell them..._

The same horrified look that had crossed my face was now on Scorpius's as he realized that he had made the same mistake. We continued to dance until the end of the song, but we were both distracted and worried throughout it. I headed to my parents, while Scorpius went to his, and Mum raised an eyebrow.

"So, a Malfoy, is it?"

"Er... Yes."

James's face was an unsightly shade of red as he growled, "A bloody _Malfoy_? Everyone knows you can't trust a Malfoy..." And then he proceeded to rant—quietly enough, thankfully—about how Malfoys were awful people and how Scorpius was the son of a Death Eater and clearly couldn't be trusted at all.

"James," Dad said tiredly, "Haven't we been over this? You can't judge a person by their parents. Besides, Draco Malfoy is a different person now..."

"Once a Death Eater, always a Death Eater! How do you know he hasn't passed all of that pureblood shit on to his son?"

"Language, James. And do _you_ like being thought of only as the son of the 'Boy-Who-Lived?'" he said, sounding even more exasperated than before. My mum watched approvingly.

"Well, no, but—"

Dad interrupted, "Scorpius's situation is very much the same, and Draco Malfoy was hardly the type to beat that kind of nonsense into his son's head. He knows what it feels like to be forced to believe in something, and I don't think he would do that to his son."

"And how do you know that?" James argued.

"After the war ended, we decided to forget our differences and we've become... friendly acquaintances," he said slowly. "Don't question me, James."

James looked a bit ashamed at his behavior, although he still didn't seem too happy about the fact that I was dating a Malfoy.

"Don't worry," Mum said, "We're completely fine with it, Lily. And I'm sure Scorpius's parents will be, too."

* * *

><p><strong>Scorpius POV:<strong>

"A Potter?" asked Dad with a smirk. (Mum always said that I got mine from him...)

"Yes, a Potter," I scowled. "Got a problem with that?"

"Not at all!" Mum chirped. "She's a beautiful girl, and a kind one at that!"

"How do you know that, Mum?" I asked.

She smiled happily—honestly, Mum's always much too happy, but I suppose that isn't such a bad thing—before saying, "Oh, I met her in Diagon Alley a few times. She really is a nice girl... You really do have good taste, Scorpius!"

"Have you and this Potter girl... had sex yet?" Dad drawled, straight to the point as usual.

"Draco! This is not the time for this conversation!" Mum scolded.

I grinned. "Not yet, Dad."

He shook his head in shame. "I'm disappointed in you, son."

Mum slapped his arm, telling me, "I think it's wonderful that you two have decided to wait; too many couples jump right into their relationship and in my opinion, that's just not the way to do it! Besides, you don't want to become another statistic..."

"She's just not ready, Dad," I shrugged nonchalantly. "Not that I care—I suppose that I'll be ready whenever she is."

Dad looks somewhat horrified. "You mean... you haven't ever done it before? You give Malfoys a bad name..."

"What age did _you_ first do it at, then?" I demanded, mildly annoyed.

"Fourteen," he said proudly. "Tracey Davis, girl's bathroom..."

Mum rolled her eyes before muttering, "Always brags about his sexual encounters..."

I held back a laugh; Dad clearly hadn't heard, as he was continuing with the list, "I can't really remember all of them, but I know I did a seventh-year Hufflepuff in a broom closet during my fifth year, and—"

"Enough, Draco," Mum said, scowling. "We've heard enough about your sex life at Hogwarts, all right?"

He smirked again. "As you wish, my love."

I saw them leaning in for a kiss and walked away—I did _not_ want to see my parents snogging like teenagers. Not that they acted like adults in the first place.

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><p><strong>AN: Yay! Long-ish chapter! Please (PLEASE!) review! =)**


	17. Chapter 17

**A/N: I know, this chapter's a bit late. I do think you'll like it, though.  
><strong>**Thank you so much to those of you who reviewed last chapter, as well as the ones who followed/favorited! I really appreciate it. :D  
><strong>**So I joined Pottermore last week and was sorted into Hufflepuff. A bit of a surprise, initially, but I guess it makes sense. I'm no genius, and far from cunning or brave. So where else would I go? x) Hehehe, if you want my username just PM me, I guess. I can't even remember it anymore...**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter, but I definitely wish I did...**

* * *

><p>"I can't wait for the party tonight!" Rose squealed.<p>

The four of us were gathered in my bathroom, busily preparing for the Longbottoms's New Year's Eve party, giggling about the events at our Christmas one.

"I hope it's like Lily's Christmas party! Did you see Al be forced to kiss that old woman he was dancing with? The look on his face afterwards..." Jenny laughed.

Dom grinned at her mischievously, muttering, "I'm surprised you weren't jealous..."

"Jenny isn't the jealous type," Rose said, having heard Dom's words. "Don't you know that already?"

"But anyone would be jealous, seeing the person they fancy kiss another woman!"

"Not when the woman is old and they're under charmed mistletoe..."

"Yeah, right!"

"Think what you want, Dom."

"Can't I speak for myself?" Jenny laughed. "Of course I'm not jealous!"

"See?" said Rose proudly.

Dom looked grumpy as she muttered, "Fine, you win."

"Nothing new there," I remarked, earning a glare from Dom and giggles from Rose and Jenny.

I started carefully doing my blush and eyeshadow as Rose said smugly, "I'm always right!"

"Don't get too full of yourself, Rose," Dom grumbled, French braiding her hair, adding in thin silver ribbons as she went.

I rolled my eyes, putting the light silver eyeshadow away before applying lipstick and putting my earrings on. "Stop bickering like old women, you two!"

"We are not bickering like old women!" Dom snapped defensively.

Rose crossed her arms. "Yeah, we aren't!"

"Well, at least they can agree on _something_," Jenny muttered, putting a pair of silver earrings in. They were little hoops that interlocked with each other, only going down an inch or two as they got bigger and bigger the farther down you looked. Mine were similar, but they were all relatively small and the same size, while Rose's were just medium-sized hoops that went through her ears and Dom's were almost twice as big.

Both of them glared at Jenny before we strode out, going to get our dresses. Rose's dress was long-sleeved and silver with a translucent green sash and went almost halfway past her knees, and Dom's was the opposite: a pleasant, grass-green color with a silver sash, and rather short (but not for her), although it didn't have too low of a neckline.. Jenny's was a simple, elegant dark green dress that went to her knees, and mine was a floor-length, dark green dress that had a somewhat silvery sheen to it that had sleeves that went down to about my elbow. We carefully put them on, being careful not to mess up our hair or makeup, and added the final touches to our outfits: I had silver bangles on one wrist, while Dom had them on both; Rose had dark green ones, and Jenny had a lovely white gold necklace on. Tonight, our theme was Slytherin—which, I was sure, Al and Scorpius would appreciate. We grinned before heading downstairs to Floo to the Longbottoms' home.

"Oh, girls, you look lovely," Mum beamed. Aunt Hermione was gazing adoringly at Rose, and then Dom, then Jenny, and finally me, tears filling her eyes.

"You've all grown so much," she said tearfully.

Rose grinned, giving her mother a hug. "I know, Mum."

We all cast Impervius Charms on ourselves—thank Circe I was seventeen already—before each tossing a handful of Floo powder into the fire and stepping in, saying, "Number thirty-four, Westwick Lane!"

I stepped out of the fire to see the Longbottoms' house's interior looking completely unrecognizable. What had once been a cozy, family-oriented home seemed to have become, as Dom would call it, party central. I supposed it made sense—it was New Year's Eve, after all.

Before I could say anything, though, Aunt Fleur swooped down on me, grabbing my arm and dragging me off somewhere. "Lily!" she gushed (she always said my name more like "Leel-ey"), "You are so beautiful tonight! Not as beautiful as my Dominique, but still beautiful!"

I rolled my eyes. Typical Aunt Fleur praise. "Thank you, Aunt Fleur."

"And zis boy!" she continued, bringing me to Scorpius. "You never said you 'ad such a 'andsome boyfriend!"

Scorpius looked mildly startled (and frightened) as he said, "You flatter me, Mrs. Weasley."

"Oh, ze manners zis boy 'as!" Aunt Fleur exclaimed. She patted Scorpius on the cheek and happily left to continue talking with everyone else.

Dom, Rose, and Jenny sidled up to us, mischievous grins on all three of their faces. "We just thought you'd want to know that it really isn't a good idea to drink the punch tonight."

"We wouldn't have anyways, someone always spikes it every year," I grinned. "I just don't know how the adults never notice until it's too late. Anyways, what'd you put in it this year?"

"Dad's finest firewhiskey," Rose said with a wink. "I snuck it from his liquor cabinet last night; I doubt he'll miss it."

"And some Muggle liquor, too," Jenny added.

Dom piped up, "We're not really sure how those two things'll react with each other, but we figured it would be okay in the morning."

"Let's hope," I muttered.

"I've got to go warn my parents... When they're tipsy, they do things in public that people should _never_ do in public," Scorpius said, smirking, as he started to leave.

I frowned. "I think everyone else would be too drunk to notice. Or care."

"We'll still be here. And that is _not_ a sight I want to see," Dom said adamantly.

Rose and Jenny grimaced. "Me neither," Rose said.

"Or me!"

"Rest assured," said Scorpius as he returned to our small group, "My parents have been warned. Let's just hope they don't drink it on _purpose_."

"Who would do that?" Jenny asked, bewilderment showing on her face.

Scorpius laughed. "My parents."

The three of them looked a bit horrified for a moment—I probably did too—before suddenly, I was swept off my feet whisked away to what seemed like a broom closet.

"Let's see who was right that day on the train..."

* * *

><p><strong>Draco POV:<strong>

"Where's Lily?" asked the Weaslette (the names stick, all right?), looking around worriedly.

Then, Astoria looked around and, clearly unable to spot our son, said frantically, "I can't find Scorpius either!"

The two women looked like they were going to explode with worry.

"What if they were kidnapped?"

"Or Stunned by Death Eaters and tortured?"

"Or killed on the spot?"

"Or... Or what if they were sent back in time by a stray Time-Turner?"

"OH MY GOD, MY LILY!" the Weaslette bawled.

Astoria was in tears, too. Between sobs, she blubbered, "My Scorpius..."

I just stood there and smirked. I knew exactly where they were... Or at least what they were _doing_. Besides, Astoria cried for these kinds of things all the time. I think I was used to it by then.

Potter came up to the still-sobbing Weaslette and said, "Ginny, dear, what's wrong?"

"L-Lily and S-Scorpius are m-missing!" she said, before bursting into tears all over again.

She and Astoria were clutching each other for dear life, leaving me standing there and smirking at them, while Potter's expression went quickly from horrified to frightened to worried to just... blank. He crumpled to the ground, and the Weaslette quickly stooped down to pick his head off, looking at him worriedly.

"Not j-just m-my Lily, they had to t-take H-Harry too!" she sobbed, holding his limp body to her chest.

Potter was such a wuss. Honestly, he was the only person I knew who fainted so often.

Finally, after five minutes of the Weaslette's sobbing, he opened his eyes and stared at her, a puzzled expression on his face. "Ginny? Why are you crying and holding my body?"

She clutched him even tighter. "Oh, Harry! I thought you were dead!"

_Ever_ so dramatic, the Weasleys.

At that moment, the Potter girl and Scorpius chose to emerge from a doorway at the other end of the room, both looking very flushed. And a bit ruffled. They separated just in time for the Weaslette to turn around and cry, "Oh, Lily, I thought you were dead _too_!"

She looked mildly perturbed as her mother threw herself into her arms, bawling. "Well, Mum, you'll be happy to know I'm alive. And what do you mean by 'too?'"

At the same time, Astoria was hugging Scorpius like she hadn't seen him in years, sobbing into his shoulder, "I thought you were dead too! Don't ever do that to me again! EVER!"

"All right, Mum," he said a bit awkwardly, patting her on the shoulder.

"You have no idea how much I _love_ you, Scorpius!" she continued, her tears staining his robes (expensive ones, I might add).

"Come on, Astoria," I patted her on the shoulder. "Why don't we go get some punch?"

* * *

><p><strong>Scorpius POV:<strong>

My parents were drunk. They were all but groping each other in the far corner of the room, much to the disgust of those around our age. Most of the adults were too drunk to even see them—how did they _never_ taste the alcohol?—so they didn't really get any complaints. I steered Lily and friends (who were tittering, knowing exactly what we'd been doing prior to entering the room) to another room just to get away from the disgusting couple. I've always thought that if they saw themselves at it sometime, they'd be disgusted with themselves too.

"Remind me never to spike the punch when Scorpius's parents are here. Ever again," groaned Rose. (I was dating her cousin, so I figured I might as well refer to her with her first name.)

"I think I know what you meant when you said that when they were drunk, they did things that people shouldn't do in public..." Lily said, looking a bit green.

I shrugged. "I warned you..."

"No one could be prepared to see _that_," Dom shuddered.

"Not my problem," I told her.

Dom glowered at me as Lily chortled at her expression. "No need to be so smug, Scorpius!" she chided, lightly smacking me on the arm.

"Hey!" I said defensively. "I'm not being smug!"

"You're always smug," she said, rolling her eyes.

"Sometimes I am..." I admitted.

Jenny shook her head. "Not sometimes. Always."

"And how do you know that?"

"Because I'm observant."

"Maybe you're not observant enough."

"I know my own observation skills, thank you very much!"

"Maybe you don't."

"Stop questioning my ability to observe you!"

"No thanks."

Jenny groaned and stomped back into the ballroom, only to come dashing back; I had a feeling my parents were actually, er, _fondling_ each other by then.

"You _are_ really smug, Scorp," said Al, who had finally arrived.

I grinned. "Finally couldn't take my parents anymore?"

"They're awful when they're drunk."

"Like I didn't know that already."

Al shook his head and smiled before taking Jenny's hand and saying, "I only came to take Jenny out for a walk. I think the fresh air would do us both some good..."

"Not to mention the fact that you'll find somewhere dark and snog her senseless!" Dom piped up, smirking at her red-faced friend.

"Don't assume things!" Jenny retorted weakly.

A smug look crossed Dom's face as she replied, "See? That just proves my point."

"And judging from Al's expression," I added, "that really is exactly what he was about to do."

Al turned an even deeper shade of red, as he always did whenever I mentioned Jenny. Honestly, if he was going to get anywhere with a girl, he had to learn not to blush at the slightest mention of one. Girls didn't really like boys who literally melted in front of them...

"Well, if you were just going to do that there, why not just do it here?" questioned Dom.

"Because—because—er—" Al stuttered, looking pointedly at the ground.

"Because if we start kissing in the middle of the room it's going to be awkward for the rest of you to just stand there and _watch_ us. Not to mention uncomfortable for _us_."

"Okay, okay, true," Dom said, "then why don't you just go?"

With a roll of her eyes, Jenny dragged Al away, through the front door, and I saw them head to a spot behind a tree before disappearing from my sight.

"Well, Lily, looks like we have some competition," I said breezily before picking her up bridal-style and practically running back to the broom closet.

"We'll just have to beat them."

* * *

><p><strong>Lily POV:<strong>

... Goodness.

Who knew it would happen so fast?

I still couldn't believe that I'd _done it_ with him twice already.

Dom would be proud. And satisfied, I supposed, to hear that he was amazing in bed, as was rumored. According to him, though, whoever had spread those rumors didn't know shit, because he hadn't done it yet either.

Thank Circe for Silencing Charms. And Contraception Charms...

Besides, I really was glad that it had happened. It seemed like the right time for it.

Anyways, after Scorpius and I had rejoined Dom and Rose (Jenny hadn't returned from her little _walk_ with Al), Scorpius's parents stumbled in, still hopelessly drunk, trying to tear each others' clothes off. It didn't seem to be working, though, as they were ridiculously uncoordinated from their over-intoxication and Mr. Malfoy's shirt really only got halfway up in the five minutes they'd been in there as we just stood there, frozen in shock and watching them fumble in horror. I don't know why none of us moved, but eventually the clothes actually _did_ start to come off, and at that point we finally snapped out of it and left. I just hoped that Al and Jenny didn't walk in while they were doing it. Which, of course, they did.

We'd just moved into the adjacent room, hearing Mrs. Malfoy's drunken moans, when we heard the distinct sound of the front door opening and Jenny gagging. Within seconds, they were in the same room we were, both looking like they might hurl at any given moment. I backed away from them both, just in case.

"Why are Mr. and Mrs. Malfoy shagging in the sitting room?" Jenny managed to ask after a while, slowly regaining color.

"They're drunk," was Scorpius's answer.

Jenny frowned. "Do they ever shag when they're _not_ drunk?"

"Probably," he replied.

"At least there's that..."

"It _would_ be pretty sad if they didn't shag unless they were drunk..." Dom said thoughtfully.

"Why are we talking about Scorpius's parents' sex life?" Rose asked.

"We're not anymore!" Scorpius said before changing the subject. "So what have all of you done during the holidays?"

"If they only shagged when they were drunk, that really would be a pathetic relationship," Dom continued, oblivious. "I'd feel really bad for you, Scorpius..."

"Why can't we just move on?" Rose scowled.

Scorpius seemed just as eager. "Please, let's talk about the holidays!"

"If_ I_ only shagged my husband while we were both insanely drunk, I'd probably get a divorce," said Dom.

"JUST SHUT UP, DOM!" Jenny yelled.

"I mean, that's pretty much a loveless relationship. Or one where both parties are too shy to admit that they like each other... But that wouldn't really work, as they'd be married..."

"Really, Dom," I tried to say, but she continued to babble, hardly listening to anything we said.

"Honestly, just pathetic. And what would happen if one of them was in the mood?"

"LET'S JUST MOVE ON!" Rose bellowed in a voice very unlike her own. Even Dom snapped out of her strange trance to stare at her. "Oops," Rose laughed.

"Well... How's your relationship with Jenny, Al?" I managed to say.

He turned bright red. "Er... It's good?"

"Good?" Jenny demanded. "Just _good_? We just—"

She stopped midsentence, slightly shocked at her own words. "Nothing," she muttered finally.

The three of us grinned at them knowingly.

Both of them looked a bit sheepish; Al's face was once again so deep a red that it looked purple.

"And _you_ slept with Scorpius!" Dom said triumphantly.

"Yes, I did," I said, rolling my eyes at her, but beaming at the same time.

Al looked almost livid. "You shagged my sister?" he ground out furiously, glaring at Scorpius.

"Come on, Al! It's not that big a deal—" I started to say.

"Not a big deal? _Not a big deal?_" he fumed.

Before I could do anything, Al was swinging his fist at Scorpius, and it hit him square in the jaw, making him clutch his face in pain.

"Al!" I yelled. "What the fuck are you doing?"

"Like I said," he said, still looking at the ground, "I'll beat up whoever... You know..."

"Even your best friend?"

At this, Al looked a bit ashamed. "Well... I guess so."

"Al, you shouldn't let my relationship with Scorpius get in the way of yours. Don't ruin your friendship just for this," I pleaded.

"Hey! I'm still down here, you know," said Scorpius from the ground. I rolled my eyes and pulled him up. A large, purple bruise was starting to form on his jaw.

"Here, I'll help you—just give me a moment—" I said, struggling to pull my wand out from the hidden pocket in my dress. Finally, I pointed my wand at the bruise and whispered, "_Sanare Frendo_."

The bruise slowly healed, from purple to a yellowish hue, then to a light brown before disappearing completely. I shook my head at Al, frowning. "It's a good thing I'd like to be a Healer... Otherwise, I probably wouldn't have read the book that taught me that, and where would we be if Scorpius suddenly had a huge bruise on his face? Mum would kill you!"

Al looked sheepish as he said, "Sorry, Scorp."

"It's okay, Al... I understand," he grinned. "If I had a sister, anyone who so much as touched her would find themselves in _quite_ the predicament later..."

"Hey, how come I can't call you Scorp, but Al can? Every time I try to call you anything but _Scorpius_ you just correct me and it's so _frustrating_!" I complained.

Scorpius shrugged. "Scorp is what Al calls me, and it's for Al only to use."

I pouted. "But I'm his _sister_!"

"Doesn't make a difference," he said.

I sighed, muttering, "You boys make absolutely no sense."

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><p><strong>AN: I think some people are going to be like, "FINALLY!" right now... Haha. But do you think it's happened too soon? =/ I think you'll see why I decided to do it now, though, in later chapters.  
><strong>**Anyways, I'd really appreciate a review from all of you (because I know there are way more than five of you out there) with your thoughts; it only takes a few seconds and I'm grateful for each and every one I get! And don't forget, five reviews = an earlier chapter, so don't forget to drop one after you read this. ;) Thanks for reading!**


	18. Chapter 18

**A/N: I know, I know, this chapter is REALLY late. I had a horrible case of writer's block and I had a lot of trouble writing this chapter and the next one, but I hope you like it anyways!  
><strong>**And I know it's not nice to complain, but would it kill you all to spare me a review every chapter? It barely takes any effort! If every single one of you reviewed just ONE chapter, I would be over the moon with happiness.. :D And thanks to the two of you who reviewed the last one! Enjoy...**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter or anything associated with it. Except for whatever I've made up. -nods-**

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><p>We sat in our compartment, lazily eating Chocolate Frogs and licorice wands, as well as Bertie Bott's Every Flavour Beans, chatting as we watched the countryside go by. Scorpius hadn't made an appearance yet, but I didn't think it mattered; I'd see him in the Great Hall at dinner, anyways. While we were talking, I thought I saw a strange ripple on top of the racks when we hit a rough spot and then by the pile of sweets a bit later, but I convinced myself that I was hallucinating. Maybe I was just tired.<p>

"I still can't believe both you _and_ Jenny shagged your boyfriends over the break," Dom laughed as we sat in the carriages, heading towards the castle. "I always thought you two were the types to wait..."

"Hey! Don't make it sound like it's a bad thing," I said, glaring at her. "Besides, you lost _your_ virginity in fourth year!"

"It's different," she waved me off.

Jenny raised an eyebrow. "And how is it different, exactly?"

"Well... Well, it just is!"

We both rolled our eyes. "That's a really great example, Dom."

"I just can't explain it, all right? It's complicated—"

"Let's just go," Rose interrupted, "as we've just arrived... If we wait any longer, the carriages'll start leaving, and then where would we be?"

Dom was still grumbling under her breath as we headed into the Great Hall.

I quickly found the head of white-blonde hair sitting at the Slytherin table and tried to catch Scorpius's eye, but he didn't even look up. I frowned to myself as McGonagall welcomed us back and food finally appeared.

Dom was hungrily devouring everything on her plate—how did she stay so skinny eating like that?—but I barely felt hungry at all, and I picked at my food as Rose fretted about how exams were coming up so soon, and Dom refused to say anything because she was too engrossed in eating, and Jenny just frowned and said that she'd need to start studying.

After dinner, I tried to catch up to Scorpius, but he was gone and out of my sight before I could get within ten feet of him.

"I think Scorpius is avoiding me," I said worriedly as we headed back to the common room.

"But why would he do that?" asked Dom. "I mean, he _just_ did it with you..."

"Is sex the only thing that matters, Dom?" Rose scoffed. "You forgot to mention that they'd been dating for a month or two already, and he really seemed pretty committed..."

Jenny looked distantly ahead, clearly thinking, before saying slowly, "He really did seem like he was in love with you, Lily... But what I can't figure out is why he would just withdraw from you so suddenly."

I sighed, "Me neither. I just wish I knew..."

"Maybe you'll see him tomorrow and things'll go back to normal," Jenny said hopefully.

"Maybe..." I replied uncertainly.

But the next day, I didn't see him at all. There were no Gryffindor-Slytherin classes that day, and for some reason he wasn't at any meals. I didn't see him in the corridors, either.

"You'd think he'd at least come to see me," I complained at dinner.

Rose sighed. "I guess this just proves it—he's definitely avoiding you."

"Maybe he's embarrassed about the fact that he slept with you," Dom suggested.

"Why would he be embarrassed?" questioned Jenny. "Al's been still talking to me, he seems perfectly normal..."

Dom shrugged. "It's happened to me before. Sometimes they'll feel insecure about how they are in bed. Or just plain embarrassed that they did it."

"I guess you would know, of all people," Rose teased.

Pouting, Dom responded, "Is that supposed to be an insult?"

"It's true, though!" Jenny grinned. "You have experience."

She smiled before saying, "Just wait and see. If he doesn't talk to you by next week, he's definitely avoiding you, but if he just refuses to talk to you or speak to you at all, there's probably something else going on."

"Like what?"

"Like... I don't know. Maybe his parents?"

"But his parents seemed fine with me at the party. Besides, his mum loves me."

"Then it's probably something else."

"What's 'something else?'"

"How am I supposed to know?"

"I don't know!"

"Stop bickering, you two!" Rose snapped. "It'll solve itself eventually."

I huffed at her, "And how would that happen?"

"I don't know! It just will. Every problem is solved eventually," she replied, looking irritated.

Jenny said, "You shouldn't be so absolute. I'm sure there are plenty of unsolved problems out there that never will be."

Rose rolled her eyes. "Okay, okay, I know! I was just trying to make Lily feel better."

"Thanks for trying," I said with a little smile.

During Transfiguration the next day, I tried to catch his eye—he was sitting all the way across the room from me—but as I was behind him, he didn't turn around, but I was sure he knew I was staring at him. After class, he was out of the classroom before I could even put my quill back into my bag.

The same happened during our double Potions period at the end of the day, which annoyed me to no end; for the first twenty minutes, I tried to get him to look at me from my spot two rows ahead of him, but he made no sign that he noticed me turning around to look at him.

"For the next month, in order to prepare for your NEWTS, you will be working on your very own batch of Veritaserum; in that time, you will be expected to brew an effective truth serum and write an essay on its ingredients, the effect each ingredient has on the overall potion, and the effects of the potion. No less than two rolls of parchment are required. You will be working in pairs, which I have assigned for you," droned Professor Burnett, waving his wand to Summon the list of partners.

Jenny wrote something on a piece of paper, and I glanced down to see what was written. _Murphy's Law._

Confused, I scribbled,_ What?_

_Anything that can go wrong will go wrong,_ she wrote hurriedly as Professor Burnett began to read off his parchment.

His drone was barely audible to me, but from what I was hearing it seemed that he was only pairing people with those from the other house in the class—Slytherin. As I waited to hear my name, I thought about what Jenny had written. It really seemed ominous... What did she even mean by that? What could go wrong?

"Dominique Weasley and Adam Avery," he said tonelessly.

Dom groaned from the station next to us. "I'm screwed," she whispered.

He continued speaking, but we were all focused on Dom, who was muttering very quickly to herself, of which we only caught snatches of— "shit, I'm" — "he's going to" — "how am I supposed to" — "what a fucking" — and so on.

We all jumped a bit when he continued, "Jenny Lacewell and Albus S. Potter."

Jenny beamed and straightened up in her seat; Dom glared at her venomously.

Then, "Lily L. Potter and Scorpius H. Malfoy..."

My eyes widened with shock and I turned around to see Scorpius staring at a fixed point above my head, looking very stiff. Honestly, what was wrong with him?

"Lucille E. Edwards and Nathan Flint, Marina Wilson and Martin Goyle..."

We stopped listening until we heard, "Rose Weasley and Peony Parkinson."

Rose groaned, like Dom, and the two of them sat side by side, wallowing in self-pity and putting their heads in their hands. "You two are the only ones who got decent partners..." she grumbled.

"I don't know about that, Rose. The way Scorpius has been acting, I think Jenny's the only one who's going to have a decent time with this. Although I'm not sure about that either—Al's a mess with Potions," I said with a weak smile.

"Great," Jenny said sarcastically, "so I'm screwed too?"

We were finally interrupted when we heard Burnett say, "Anyone caught taking the completed Veritaserum will face _serious_ consequences." He glared at the Gryffindors in the class for the longest of all before continuing, "It is still, as you should know, illegal to use Veritaserum against a person unless sanctioned by the Ministry of Magic, so those who attempt to do so will not only face potential expulsion—they will face the wrath of the Ministry as well. They have only permitted us to create the potion to enhance your practical understanding of it, as the recipe is generally not given to the public. Nevertheless, it is a very tricky potion to master, so it will take some skill..."

_Truth or Dare probably isn't sanctioned by the Ministry,_ Jenny wrote on the space left on the parchment. We both stifled giggles as Burnett finally said, "Find your partners and begin."

Jenny happily skipped over to Al, while Rose, Dom, and I slowly got up from our seats, and after exchanging pained looks, slowly went to find our partners.

"Hey, Scorpius," I said quietly as I arrived at his seat.

All I got was a curt, "Hello, Lily."

"What's with you? You've been avoiding me," I said.

He shook his head. "It's complicated. Let's start."

Then, he left to get the ingredients, leaving me just standing there, lost and confused.

Not a word was exchanged as we silently agreed on who did what, him grinding up some kind of fish bone while I chopped up a lumpy purple fruit-like object. The next couple of hours was just a haze of chopping, grinding, measuring, and ladling ingredients, and stirring and doing bizarre things that had something to do with the potion (for example, I had to hold my wand to my nose for ten seconds while it brewed... What?), and the whole time, Scorpius and I barely spoke at all. By the time we'd finished the first portion of our potion—after this, we had to let it simmer overnight—it was nearly time for dinner, and we just sat and waited for class to finish in complete and utter silence. It was incredibly awkward.

"Once you have finished today's portion, you may go," said Burnett, who looked half-asleep. Scorpius dashed out as soon as the words left his mouth. Thankfully, Jenny and Dom got up and came with me as we left, although we left a very angry-looking Rose in our wake.

"Avery's a nightmare," said Dom, grimacing. "I swear, he almost dropped a whole fruit—you know, the one that changes from red to blue every now and then—into the cauldron at least ten times, and he refused to let me do anything at first, until our potion exploded, hence the ash all over my face, after which he decided to let me take the reins. And now the potion is nearly perfect so far... Only a touch off, but it should be fine."

"At least you don't have Al," Jenny laughed. "He really is a mess—every time he tried to add an ingredient, his hand would shake so much that he'd accidentally spill or drop it half the time. And he kept getting the directions all muddled up..."

"Well, at least neither of you have Scorpius as a partner. He's fine at potions, really, but he barely talked to me at all! When I tried to talk to him, he just brushed me off and said that it was 'complicated' before leaving to get ingredients!" I ranted. "I mean, I _slept_ with him—what, _five_ days ago?—and he's just ignoring me!"

"Oh, Lily," said Jenny as she and Dom both hugged me at once, resulting in my almost-suffocation.

"If you want, I can hex him for you!" offered Dom enthusiastically. "Uncle George taught me one over the holidays—it'll make the area it hits turn a bunch of different colors in patches... See?" She pulled her shirt up a bit, exposing her hip, which was covered in several bright colors. "It wears off after a few weeks, and there isn't a countercurse, so I was thinking that if I aimed for his—"

Rose interrupted, "We get the point, Dom! Where does Uncle George come up with this stuff?"

"Is that a yes?" asked Dom, looking very eager.

"You'd do it even if I said no," I laughed.

Reluctantly, she admitted, "That's true..."

By the time dinner was over, Scorpius's lower half was covered in colorful splotches, and he continued to eat his dinner, completely oblivious. What a surprise he'd have later...

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><p><strong>AN: I couldn't have them be happy forever, could I? I just don't do fluffiness. It gets boring.**

**Please review! It inspires me! ^_^**


	19. Chapter 19

**A/N: I'm so incredibly sorry for putting this up so late. I've been busy these past couple of weeks, so this and the next chapter took a while to get out.  
>Anyways, thank you so much to those of you who have reviewedfavorited/alerted because I really, really appreciate it! And thank you to Laktoast, my fantastic friend who helped me edit this chapter, which is why it might sound a little different.  
>By the way, I hope you'll all take a look at the oneshot I've posted, The Faking of Deaths. It's not Harry Potter, but it's a rewritten version of an old story by Ovid, Pyramus and Thisbe. If you're into Shakespeare, I'm sure you've heard of it. I'd really appreciate any feedback on that from you =)<strong>

**Enjoy!**

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><p><strong>Scorpius POV:<strong>

It was an hour before we were to leave for the train station to return to Hogwarts. I was finally done packing after having done revision for the exams, when someone knocked on the door. Unfortunately, the knock bore all signs of being Grandfather Lucius's. I reluctantly went across to the door and pulled it open. Whether or not I wanted him here, he would show up anyway, anyhow.

Before I could get a word out, he was off already. "You are dating the Potter girl?" he said gruffly.

I nodded. He continued, "I forbid you to continue this relationship with her—she will end the Malfoy line of purebloods and taint the blood of your children. Her whole family is a nest of blood traitors, and associating with them will ruin this family's reputation!"

"And what makes you think I'll stop dating her because you told me not to?" I spat.

"Because," he sneered, "I still have connections from my days as a Death Eater—I could ask them to do anything they please to your little _girlfriend_... And you wouldn't want that, would you?"

I paled visibly at his words. Noticing this, he continued, his voice harsh.

"You see, this girl means nothing to me or them, but maybe if she were to die—or worse—you might just be _heartbroken_. _I_ know nothing of this sort would happen, of course, because love is for the weak, and that is the last thing that you, as a Malfoy, will be. I will not allow you, my grandson, to become weak like your father—although he, at least, chose a pureblood to fall in love with. You will break all ties with the Potter girl immediately. Am I understood?" snarled Grandfather Lucius. I nodded in fear, dread filling me. How was I supposed to break up with Lily now? I knew I loved her, and that she loved me—not to mention the fact that we'd just slept together the night before. So how could I just destroy our relationship out of the blue?

Grandfather Lucius swept out of my room, but I barely noticed. Instead I just sat, staring blankly at the wall, until Mum called for me. "Scorpius! We have to leave for King's Cross now, or we'll be late!"

I perfunctorily levitated my suitcase down the stairs, got into the car—which my grandfather greatly disapproved of ("Filthy Muggle contraption!")—and after what seemed like mere seconds, I got off at King's Cross, and waved goodbye to my parents before heading off to Platform Nine and Three-Quarters.

I inhaled deeply when I reached the platform. What if I ran into Lily? How the hell was I supposed to even face her? All I knew was that I couldn't keep this relationship going any longer without feeling guilty—if I refused to bow down to Grandfather Lucius's will, something horrible would happen to her, but if I broke up with her, she'd hate me...

Finally stepping through, trolley in tow, I glanced around. I spotted her bright head of scarlet hair about ten feet away and hurried onto the train before she could see me, finding a carriage around the middle of the train and settling down quickly. I levitated the trunk up to a rack near the ceiling, and sat and waited for others to show up.

"I really can't believe that you two did it!" The familiar voice of Dom jerked my senses awake. My eyes widened in fear. Were they heading this way?

"Just get over it already, Dom! It's not like you haven't..." Lily's voice was even closer than Dom's and I could hear footsteps coming closer and closer. Shit, shit, _shit_!

Pulling my wand out, I tried to ignore their chatter and Disillusioned myself, repeated the action with my trunk, and sat down again, just in time to witness the entrance door slide open. The four girls sat down, and I had to move around a bit so that there was no chance of me touching them.

The girls continued chatting right until the trolley lady arrived. Dom bought out half the cart and piled it up all right next to me. Jenny leaned over and plucked a Chocolate Frog from the pile, her hand hovering frighteningly close to my arm for a moment.

When none of them were looking, I slowly took a licorice wand and shoved it into my mouth. I also managed to take swipe Chocolate Frogs, two packages of Bertie Bott's Every Flavour Beans, and four Pumpkin Pasties, effectively satisfying my hunger. The feast no longer seemed all that appealing.

I waited until they'd all left the compartment before removing the charm and then dragging my suitcase up to the castle.

During dinner, I stared resolutely at my plate, politely making conversation as I picked at my food. I hardly felt hungry, but I didn't want to seem suspicious, so I ate a minimal amount of food and headed back up to the common room early.

I couldn't even look at Lily during the classes in the days that followed. However, I could feel her watching me in all of the Gryffindor/Slytherin classes. After class, I usually hurried out of the room as soon as possible so that she didn't have any opportunity to catch up with me. But then came our next Potions class...

When Burnett called out our names, my heart just sank. Why was everything working _against_ me? As he continued to drone on and on about the project, my mind was spinning and sheer panic settled in. I tried to think of some way out of this, but there really was none. Burnett never changed partnering assignments—not even for Slytherins. And he wasn't one to let a quiet partner-switch go unnoticed. So... I was stuck in this mess.

Lily turned around to look at me, and I focused my gaze to a point somewhere above her head before she could see me.

She finally came over to the table as I stared fixedly at a spot on my cauldron. "Hey, Scorpius," she said, her tone cautious.

"Hello, Lily," I replied stiffly, trying not to look at her. I knew that if I did, I'd crack. I'd tell her everything. And by doing that, I'd hurt her even more.

"What's with you? You've been avoiding me."

I slowly shook my head, turning away quickly. "It's complicated," was all I could say. "Let's start."

With that, I left to gather the ingredients on the list. For the next couple of hours, I tried to fix my mind firmly on Potions, and Potions only. I didn't try to make conversation with her, only speaking when it was required.

We were finally freed when Burnett announced that we could leave once we were done, and with the minimal conversation amongst the two of us, we had long since finished. I all but sprinted out of the classroom, hurrying off to the Great Hall for dinner. Having found a seat, I tucked in, and tried as best as I could to forget it all. At one point, I felt a strange tingling all over my lower half, but brushed it off. I continued eating.

I didn't notice until I went to take a shower.

As I automatically stripped off my clothes and stepped into the shower, I glanced at my reflection in the mirror and froze. Was that _blue_ on me? It only got worse when I turned around. The entirety of my lower half, spread to my thighs as well, was covered in hideous, ridiculously colorful splotches.

After one painfully long moment, I let out a shriek. "WHAT THE BLOODY HELL?"

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><p><strong>Lily's POV:<strong>

Scorpius looked really angry all throughout the next day. The four of us suppressed giggles at his expression. Clearly, he hadn't found anything to reverse it.

"Done with tormenting Scorpius yet?" asked Rose mischievously.

"Oh, no," replied Dom, who had the same look in her eye, "Far from it."

I grinned at them both. "I know just what to do next..."

Just then, Al passed us in the hall. I caught up with him dragged him over to the girls. "Al, we need a favor."

"We do?" asked Jenny.

"Oh, yes. We do," said a very smug-looking Dom. It seemed like we were on the same page.

Al frowned. "What do you want me to do?"

"We need the password to the Slytherin common room tomorrow," I told him, "and we need you not to tell anyone it was us."

"_What_ wasn't you?" he asked, but we were already walking away.

Over the next few hours, Rose had written to Uncle George asking for several of his products, Jenny had retrieved the Marauder's Map and, with a bit of wheedling, extracted the password from Al, ("_Bubotuber Pus_"—eugh.) and Dom and I had carefully planned each step of our little trip.

The owl arrived with our supplies the next day at breakfast, and for the rest of the day we were almost giddy with excitement. I could barely focus during Charms, and by the time we were due for double Potions, I was literally bouncing my way to class.

I took my seat next to Scorpius as Burnett listlessly gave us our instructions for the day. Happily gathering the necessary ingredients, I sat down and told Scorpius, "You can carry out the first two steps, and I'll get started on measuring the ingredients out."

"Awfully peppy, aren't we?" he remarked dryly.

"What a surprise—that's the most you've said to me since after break," I snapped, venom seeping into my tone.

Under his breath, I heard him mutter, "I hardly have a choice."

"What d'you _mean_, you 'hardly have a choice?'" I hissed angrily. "You've been intentionally ignoring me for the past two weeks!"

"I never said anything," he said noncommittally. His expression was unreadable.

Furious, I turned back to my work and we spent the rest of the class working in silence, only speaking to relay instructions or information. _Well, he certainly deserves what he's getting tonight..._ I thought vengefully as Professor Burnett dismissed us.

I waited for my friends at the classroom door, and when they all arrived—Dom and Rose looked particularly foul-tempered—we headed back to the common room instead of going to dinner. As we had expected, it was completely empty, and we went over our plan one more time, laying the supplies out on the floor and double-checking that we had every single one.

When we were through, Dom looked up at us, and an evil grin slowly crossed her face.

"It's time."

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><p><strong>AN: The next chapter involves Hermione's beaded bag, some Weasleys' Wild-Fire Whiz-bangs, something blue, and maybe Canary Creams... Want to find out what's going to happen? ;D You know what to do.**


	20. Chapter 20

**A/N: I'm SO sorry. D: These last couple of weeks have been _crazy_ for me, but that's no excuse. I promise I'll update more often from now on! And this is a pretty short chapter, but I'm sure the next one will be a bit longer. I just thought it was a good place to end. :P**

**If I were JKR, I definitely would NOT be writing fanfiction right now.**

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><p>We arrived back in the dungeons in no time at all. The halls were clear, as just about everyone was at dinner, and we got into the Slytherin common room without a hitch.<p>

"Wow, it must be depressing to have to _live_ in here all the time," Jenny whispered.

Quietly, Rose responded, "I know! It's all dark and... green."

"Where are the boys' dorms even supposed to be?" I asked with a frown. Jenny and Rose shushed me loudly.

"What if someone's here?" Jenny panicked. "Then we'd all get caught and get detention and be expelled and my parents would kill me—"

"Oh, stop it, Jenny," laughed Dom. "It'll be fine! I swear. Besides, I already know where to go!"

We followed her through the spacious room to a steep flight of stairs that looked quite daunting. "I know," said Dom, "it really is a pain to get up these when you're dragging a boy up there, too."

"Why would you be dragging a boy up the stairs?" Rose asked, her brow furrowing in confusion.

Dom wiggled her eyebrows. "Many reasons, Rose. Many, many reasons."

We started up the stairs, which seemed to go on for miles. Finally, panting, we reached the top. The four of us frowned.

"This is even worse than the common room," muttered Jenny as we glanced around.

"Ugh, I know," I grimaced. "How do they even see in here?"

"They don't call it the snake pit for nothing," Dom joked.

We began to unpack our things from my small beaded purse—an old gift from Aunt Hermione—which had an Undetectable Expansion Charm on it. First came a Portable Swamp, some Weasleys' Wildfire Whiz-bangs, some blue hair dye, and Uncle George's newest prototype: Canned Creatures, which turned into a random animal or insect when opened. They were all charmed to be set off as soon as someone said "Canary Creams."

I grinned. "Now all we have to do is wait for them to come back. There are still around twenty minutes left of dinner... Anyone up for a game of Exploding Snap?"

The others shook their heads. "I think it's time for a game of Truth or Dare," said Dom with a mischievous twinkle in her eye.

"Fine with me," I said. Jenny and Rose just shrugged and I pulled the small bottle of Veritaserum out of the bag.

"I get to go first!" called Rose, grinning.

Dom sighed disappointedly.

"You can't _always_ go first," Jenny laughed.

Dom just pouted in response as Rose locked her eyes on me. "Truth or dare, Lily?"

"Dare."

"I dare you to kiss Dom," she giggled.

I eyed Dom, who was wrinkling her nose at me. "Sorry, Lily, but as pretty as you are, I prefer boys."

I laughed and leaned over, giving her a peck on the cheek.

"Hey!" Rose protested, "That doesn't count!"

"You never said _where_ I had to kiss her..." I grinned smugly at her before I turned to Jenny. "Truth or dare, Dom?"

"Truth," she said after a few moments.

Pouring a couple of drops of Veritaserum into her mouth, I asked, "Exactly how many boys have you slept with?" It was something we'd all been dying to know, but Dom had been keeping her mouth clamped shut.

Reluctance showed on her face as she answered, "Seven... But I've been safe, all right?"

Jenny, Rose, and I all raised our eyebrows. "Not as many as I expected," Rose said, suppressing a smile.

"What's _that_ supposed to mean?" she frowned. Before anyone said anything, she rolled her eyes and said, "Jenny! Truth or dare?"

"Dare," Jenny replied.

But before Jenny could find out what her dare was, we heard voices outside of the door.

"... Can you believe it?" It was Al's voice. "Who knew she was such a whore?"

"Everyone did, Al," came Scorpius's teasing voice, "but you were just too dim to see it."

I could hear the scowl in Al's tone when he said, "Piss off, Scorp."

We scrambled to put the supplies back into the beaded bag, finally pulling the Invisibility Cloak over ourselves just in time for Scorpius and Al to enter the room flanked by two other Slytherin boys.

"I'm just tired," moaned one, "so will you two just let me sleep?"

"It's not even curfew!" exclaimed the other. "Come on, we can go pick up a couple of girls in the Astronomy Tower..."

"Just shut it, Goyle," snapped Scorpius. "Let the kid sleep."

The four of us slowly, quietly moved to a corner of the room as the four Slytherins prepared for bed.

I almost made a sound when all of them came out half-dressed, although in Goyle's case, that wasn't so good. And I could tell that Dom was fighting the urge to whistle at Al and Scorpius, which clearly would've been a dead giveaway.

It wasn't long before the lights were out and all four boys were asleep.

"_Lumos_," I whispered as we crept forwards. "_Muffliato_."

I pulled the blue hair dye out and looked to Dom. "You said you knew how to do this?"

"Yeah, and it lasts two months," she grinned. "Here, hand it to me. I'll do it... How should we give it to him? I think a full head of neon-blue hair might be a bit much. Maybe streaks?"

"That works," I shrugged.

Dom pulled a small bundle out of the box and pulled a bright blue vial out, pouring the powder inside onto Scorpius's hair.

"_Inficio Infeci Infectum Virga_."

A fine, light blue mist surrounded Scorpius's face for a moment, and then it cleared at we all suppressed laughs. His hair was now streaked a bright, vivid blue—in a lot more places than I expected—and, frankly, he looked ridiculous. I snorted as we backed away from his bed, pulling the rest of our supplies out from the beaded bag.

"Okay, Portable Swamp first," Rose directed. We all grinned as we opened it, turning the whole floor into a huge swamp.

"Eugh, my shoes are getting wet!" squealed Dom. Jenny frowned at her feet before conjuring a rock in the middle for us to stand on.

Rose continued, "Now let's set the Canned Creatures free..."

Each of us grabbed a few cans and tapped them, releasing numerous bugs, harmless snakes, toads, frogs, and fish. Dom squealed again as a cockroach crawled over her hand before shaking it off and standing on her tiptoes to get herself as far from the creepy-crawlies as possible.

"Let's stay for a bit... We can take shifts," she said. "That way, we'll all at least get a few hours of sleep. Around four in the morning, we'll set the fireworks off."

"Great idea," I grinned. "I'll take first watch, I guess. Hopefully none of them wakes up..."

As a precaution, I threw the Invisibility Cloak, which we had shed when Dom was busy hopping around to avoid the bugs, back over us as the other three girls fell fast asleep.

It was relatively uneventful, although it was funny to see Al tossing in his bed and mumbling in his sleep: "Jenny... I don't like... Stop it... What are crutches?"

After a few hours, I prodded Rose's side to wake her up. She groaned, "Go away!" before falling back asleep, but I elbowed her in the stomach and she opened her eyes a crack, glaring at me.

I smiled at her sweetly. "Your turn, Rose!"

Still looking a bit sour, she sat up and rubbed her eyes. "Fine," she mumbled.

It wasn't long before I fell fast asleep.

* * *

><p>"Lily! Wake up!" someone hissed.<p>

I rolled over and ignored her, but another voice said, "It's time to set the fireworks off! Come on, Lily!"

I felt someone poke my arm but continued to ignore their whispers to me until a jet of water hit my face. I cringed and opened my eyes after a second to see Dom, Jenny, and Rose glaring at me.

"Took you long enough!" Jenny snapped. "Are you ready yet?"

"Ready for what?" I mumbled.

Rose sighed. "We're setting the fireworks off, remember?"

It was then that I realized where we were and a grin spread over my face.

"I'm ready."

I reached into the little bag and grabbed the pack of fireworks, taking my wand and returning them to their regular size. The crates took up quite a bit of space, but they thankfully weren't getting wet. Rose took a moment to cast a Protean Charm on the five boxes in front of us before levitating them to the space in the middle of the room.

Dom smirked at me evilly. "Here we go..."

Jenny pointed her wand at one and set it off. We quickly packed up and hid under the Invisibility Cloak as the crates simultaneously burst into explosions of light. After a moment, it was easier to see them. Catherine Wheels, as well as various groups of fireworks spelling out things like "U NO POO" ricocheted throughout the room.

Al was the first to wake, looking blearily around him before his eyes popped wide open. "What the hell did they _do_?"

Not five seconds later, Scorpius, then one of the other boys sat up, gazing at the fireworks and swamp in shock. It wasn't too long before the last one woke up. They were all too entranced by the fireworks to notice Scorpius's hair, but it was absolutely comical when they did.

Al finally tore his eyes away from the bright display to glance at Scorpius before he went back to looking at the fireworks again, but did a double take less than a moment later. "Scorp! _Scorpius_!"

Scorpius looked over at him, puzzled. "What?"

"What happened to your hair?"

"What do you mean, what happened to my hair? It's all still _there_, isn't it?"

"Yes, but it's—it's _blue_!"

"What? You're joking. You've got to be joking..." Scorpius looked horrified.

Al shook his head grimly. "It's blue. Not all blue, but you look stupid, mate. No offense."

Scorpius rushed to the bathroom, a horrified expression on his face as he splashed through the muddy floor.

I resisted the urge to laugh as the four of us crept along the wall to the door. The other boys were too entranced by the fireworks to notice us, but Al looked at the door suspiciously as Dom slowly pulled it open. We stepped out and hurried back to the Gryffindor common room, greeting a very disgruntled Fat Lady on our way in.

As soon was we were safely inside, we all collapsed into fits of laughter. We didn't stop until tears streamed down our faces, our words incoherent between laughs.

When we finally stopped, I thought about his face at breakfast in the morning and started laughing again because suddenly stopping, my eyes widening as something registered in my brain.

"Girls," I whispered as all of their eyes swung to me. "I just remembered."

"Remembered what?" asked Rose, her brow furrowing.

I shook my head, too horrified to even speak. Finally, I managed to say, "It's Saturday."

"It's Saturday. So what?" Jenny said, confused as well.

But I could see that it had struck Dom, too, as she met my eyes, a horrified look on her face. "Oh."

"It's Saturday," I repeated. "Today's our Quidditch game against Slytherin."

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><p><strong>AN: Yeah, so I realized that I've been neglecting Quidditch—sorry. But you've got plenty of it coming up, I promise you. =D And my next update won't be _too_ late next time... Review, please? -puppy dog eyes- You know I love them.**


	21. Chapter 21

**A/N: I know this chapter is a short one. But I promise I'll write some longer ones soon; it's just that I've been working on another new story AND have finals coming up, so I've been studying like crazy. You should be happy that I've gotten this chapter up on time! xD Anyways, here it is, and I hope all of you review-I was really really happy with last chapter's response. :D**

**Thank you to my LOVELY friend Lakshmi (ffnet username: Mystdream) for betaing this chapter for me, however little involvement she claims to have had. ;D**

**Disclaimer: I don't own HP, blahblahblah.**

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><p>Our team walked out onto the field, hardly in good shape. Dom, Rose, Jenny, and I were completely exhausted. Fred, who had gotten into a fight a few days back, had a broken knuckle and a black eye. Things were <em>not<em> looking too good…

Scorpius looked annoyed as he stepped out onto the field, and the other three boys from his dorm looked as though they might fall asleep at any moment. Everyone else appeared to be fine, however.

When Scorpius and I shook hands, we failed to put any effort into it—usually we made every effort to squeeze as hard as we could. We trudged back to our teams and at the screech of the whistle, we took off into the air. The chill energized me, and I was once again alert as always, eyes searching for the Snitch.

"And they're off!" Marina Wilson said. "The Quaffle, Snitch, and Bludgers have just been released—and Malfoy goes for the ball first, quick as lightning. He's cut off by Rose Weasley, who snatches the ball right from under his nose! She heads for the goals, passing it to Jenny Lacewell—quite a talented Chaser, by the way—and… SCORE FOR GRYFFINDOR! Gryffindor has an early lead with ten points—and Avery is hit by a well-aimed Bludger by Dominique Weasley—good job, he's a slimy little git… Sorry, Professor! Not again, I swear!"

I thought I saw a glint of gold high in the air and immediately sped towards it. Al was on my tail as soon as he spotted me, but I had the headstart. I followed it with my eyes as I heard Marina Wilson yell, "And Lily Potter's spotted the Snitch! Both Potters are going for it now, but who will get it in the end? They clearly don't have any reservations when it comes to hurting each other—Malfoy scores a goal! Ten points to Slytherin!"

As I reached the little flicker of gold that I'd seen, I realized that it wasn't the Snitch at all, but an illusion my tired eyes had fallen for. I sharply brought my broom to a halt and sped downwards, feeling frustrated. "It looks like it wasn't the Snitch after all," said Marina, her voice filled with disappointment. "Roxy Weasley has the Quaffle; she reaches the goals, and… _shit_! She's been hit in the side of the head by a Bludger—oh, god, she's falling! Someone, _help_ her!"

Professor McGonagall didn't even reprimand Marina for cursing: everyone was too busy watching Roxy's falling form, aghast. Then someone sped down to catch her.

Scorpius.

He caught her just before she fell to the ground, landing easily and handing her to Madam Hooch, who conjured a stretcher and ordered a student to accompany her to the Hospital Wing. Scorpius mounted his broom again and sped into the air.

Marina sound relieved when she began to speak again. "And a graceful save by none other than Scorpius Malfoy. The game is back in full swing, and Peony Parkinson has the Quaffle. She's heading towards the goals, and she scores! Slytherin's in the lead, twenty to ten—_foul_! Avery's just decked Dominique Weasley—come _on_, who hits a _girl_? THAT'S A BLOODY FOUL! Sorry, sorry, Professor—I won't do it again, promise!"

Dom looked infuriated as she hunted around for another Bludger to hit at him, a bruise quickly forming on her right cheek.

"And Madam Hooch has given a penalty to Gryffindor! Rose Weasley lines up in front of the hoops, and—YES! Another ten points to Gryffindor—it's a tie, twenty to twenty! Dominique Weasley hits Avery in the stomach with a Bludger—ugh, he looks like he's going to be sick—and oh, god, he just puked all over the pitch. But he's up and flying again, and it looks like the two of them are going to have a _wicked_ war…"

I continued to circle the pitch, searching for the ball, but I couldn't see _anything_. Al seemed to be having the same problem. My vision was blurring rapidly, I couldn't even see the players below.

"Parkinson's got the Quaffle, flying toward the Gryffindor goals—Weasley steals it using a _tricky_ maneuver—and that's another ten points for Gryffindor! Gryffindor is in the lead with thirty points; Slytherin's got twenty—and has anyone said anything about Malfoy's hair? It looks ridiculous, frankly. Sorry, Malfoy."

Scorpius was scowling in her direction as Marina grinned cheekily at him before continuing her commentary.

"Back to the game! Malfoy has viciously swiped the Quaffle before either of the Gryffindor Chasers can get anywhere near it, and he's heading towards the goals—Fred Weasley saves it—quite an attractive bloke, I've got to say—and Lacewell has the Quaffle again; she dodges a Bludger, heading for the goalposts—Gryffindor scores! They're in the lead with forty points, and Slytherin's still got twenty—and there goes Avery again. Ugh, I feel awful for whoever's got to clean _that_ up."

I had to fly out of the way to avoid being hit by Avery's puke; that was _not_ something I wanted to be covered in. Ever.

The game continued, Gryffindor somehow staying in the lead, despite the fact that four of us were so tired that we were all afraid that we might lose balance out of sheer drowsiness and fall off our brooms. I continued to search the skies for the Snitch, and Al sluggishly did the same. Finally I saw the familiar glint of gold through my blurred vision.

"And it seems like Lily Potter has seen the Snitch! Her brother is going after her, but Lily has the headstart," said Marina as I sped after the glittery form in the sky. I could almost feel Al behind me, but we both knew that I was the one who was going to get to it first: we both had the same broom, after all. There was absolutely no way that we could lose… "Another point for Gryffindor! Gryffindor in the lead with two hundred seventy points; Slytherin is trailing behind with only one hundred thirty…"

I flew after the Snitch, gaining speed, but I couldn't seem to be getting any closer. In fact, it seemed as if the Snitch was moving further away with every swish of my broom. After a few moments, I chanced a glance behind me to see that Al wasn't following me anymore. I looked around, confused. What was going on?

A roar sounded from below. "That's another point for Gryffindor! Two hundred eighty to one hundred thirty! Lily Potter is flying incredibly high after the Snitch, but wait—why is her brother flying _that_ way? Is that the Snitch? WHAT?"

I started to a halt before furiously plunging downwards at a startling speed. I could see Al below me, grinning smugly, heading for the real Snitch—_oh, no, he wouldn't._

I was flying downwards at an incredibly steep angle. Al was getting closer and closer to the ball…

"Oh, that's a _dirty_ trick," growled Marina, "bloody Slytherins. I just knew they'd pull a trick like this again!"

Half of the people in the stands, even Slytherins, were standing up angrily in protest as I continued my dangerous descent towards the fluttering Snitch.

"And Al Potter catches the Snitch," Marina said dejectedly as my jaw tightened in anger. My eyes were so fixated on him that even though the game had ended, I didn't stop flying or even try to land. I kept heading down, my speed rapidly increasing. Al was proudly holding the Snitch up, oblivious to everything else.

The people watching from the stands weren't cheering; Al's smile faltered as his annoyed team members began to fly towards him.

No one noticed me until I crashed into Al's side.

The last thing I heard before everything went black was Scorpius's horrified cry.

"Lily!"

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><p><strong>AN: You know what to do... REVIEW!  
><strong>**(see what I did there? ;D)**


	22. Chapter 22

**A/N: This chapter has been a long time coming. xD I'M SORRY! I've just been incredibly lazy, which is really no excuse, but there you have it... D: Yay for laziness? Heh.**

**I'm so glad that so many of you reviewed the last chapter! It really makes me happy to see that people enjoy my writing =) BTW, have you seen my latest oneshot, Not Your Average Party? It's Dramione, EWE (Epilogue, What Epilogue?) and written for the Twin Exchange Monthly Challenge. I would really, really appreciate it if you voted for it on the Twin Exchange Forum (just Google it if you have to) because voting ends on the tenth! And if you haven't heard of it, try participating in it! It's loads of fun. :D Thanks so much to all of you and enjoy this somewhat lengthy chapter!**

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><p>"Hey, Lily. It's Dom. I don't know if you can hear me right now, but I figured I'd talk to you anyways. I heard that sometimes people in comas or whatever you're in right now can hear what people say to them, even though they're not really conscious. Or something like that. I wasn't really listening when my dad was talking about it… He's really bad at telling stories, which you probably already know. Didn't he try to tell you The Tale of the Three Brothers from memory once? I'm pretty sure that was a disaster, but I can't really remember much anyways.<p>

"You know, this is really weird. I just can't get over the feeling. It's like I'm talking to a vegetable or something; I swear, if someone walks in right now, they're going to think I'm going insane. Maybe I'll bring Rose and Jenny next time, I'm sure they'd love to try. Besides, maybe if someone saw _three_ of us talking to what may or may not be a vegetable, they wouldn't think we were as crazy! Or maybe they'd just send us to St. Mungo's. Either way, we'd all be in it together.

"Er, Rose and Aidan Price broke up a couple of days ago—you've been out a week, just so you know, and your parents are really worried, although Albus is fine; you broke is arm, though—anyways, Rose is pretty torn up over the whole fiasco and it's just too long of a story to tell to you now. But I swear we'll tell you the whole thing later, when Rose isn't as upset as she is now. It's pretty bad—any time someone mentions something even vaguely related to Aidan (your bed, for example) she just starts _bawling_ and doesn't stop for hours. You were always the best at handling that kind of stuff, I think. It sucks not having you around.

"And Jenny and Al aren't on speaking terms, thanks to his little stunt at the Quidditch game last week. He totally deserves the silent treatment (Jenny's surprisingly good at keeping her mouth shut when she's got to!) he's being given and—get this—Scorpius isn't talking to him either! He seemed pretty pissed about you getting smashed up so badly, even though it was _kind of_ your fault. It's pretty confusing, though, because he's been sending mixed messages, haven't you noticed? First he hates you, then he loves you, then he ignores you, and now he suddenly cares again? I know what you're thinking right now: 'Oh, Dom has _so_ much experience with boys; of course she knows why Scorpius is doing what he's doing.' But I don't, and that's what really sucks, because everyone kind of expects me to know everything there is to know on the subject of boys—wait a second, when did this become about me? My fault, I guess, since you're pretty much a bruised-up carrot.

"Oh, shit, it's time for Divination—why'd I take that subject anyways? It's total bullshit. See you later, Lily. I'll be back with more people, I promise! By the way, there's a huge pile of work by your bed to finish, but I'm sure no one will mind if you, er, lose it all. Bye!"

My whole body ached. I couldn't move and I couldn't see; I couldn't even really feel all that well. I couldn't tell whether this was a dream or reality—I didn't know where I _was_. Judging by Dom's speech, if that hadn't really been a figment of my imagination, I was in the Hospital Wing, in a comatose state. And I _had_ actually heard Uncle Bill's lecture on people in comas, and I swear he's worse than Professor Binns.

I heard the familiar voice of Madam Pomfrey floating towards me, along with the scent of—oh, Circe, what was that? Whatever it was smelled absolutely terrible, although I couldn't quite tell exactly what the smell _was_. "Still not awake, are we?"

A moment later, something vile slid down my throat—I couldn't gag or even move to get it away from me—and it tasted something like sewage, or at least what I imagined sewage would taste like.

Madam Pomfrey continued to feed me numerous foul-tasting potions, the likes of which I had never imagined in my wildest dreams, until all I wanted to do was find a toilet somewhere—even Moaning Myrtle's favorite one—and rid my body of it completely. When the potions finally stopped coming, I mentally sighed with relief.

But it wasn't over yet: after what must have been an hour of nothing, Madam Pomfrey was back with perhaps even more potions than before, and then again the next hour. And the next. Although it was completely awful having to ingest the concoctions, I found that it was an easy way to keep track of time.

The next afternoon—or so I guessed—Jenny, Rose, and Dom arrived. It was a relief to have some company after hours on end of boredom, since I couldn't exactly fall asleep in this state.

"So you're really sure that this will work?" came Jenny's voice, sounding unsure.

Dom laughed, "Who knows? But it's worth a shot, isn't it? Besides, it'll be good to get your feelings off your chest or whatever."

"I'll give it a try," I heard Rose say tentatively. "Maybe it'll help me get over what happened…"

"Yeah! I have such good ideas, don't I?" came Dom's smug voice.

Jenny snorted, "Don't get too full of yourself, Dom. We all know your dad was the one who told you about it."

"Well… Well, shut it!"

"Let's just get on with this," Rose said. I could almost _hear_ her rolling her eyes at them. "So, Lily, I suppose you'll want to hear about the Aidan thing that Dom mentioned earlier—god, Dom, this feels so weird. If someone saw us doing this right now, they'd think we were mental!"

"That's what I said earlier, but don't you think that it's a possibility that she can hear us right now? Just try it," Dom urged.

"Okay," sighed Rose, "it all started after the Quidditch game. We—as in the Quidditch team and a few others—were all here to see how you were doing after that nasty crash, and before Madam Pomfrey let us in to see you, Aidan said he had to go to the loo for a moment. But he never came back, so afterwards I went to go find him.

"I finally found him—in a broom closet, shagging Liz Whitby," Rose said, her voice cracking as she began sobbing, "and she just sneered at me and called me pathetic. She said that Aidan has been shagging anyone who'll hop into bed with him, and I'm the only one who didn't know because I'm stupid and clueless! I hexed her, obviously, but she got away before I could give her what she _really_ deserved.

"Anyway, Aidan tried to convince me that it was all a lie, that Liz is a whore—which she really is—and that she spiked his breakfast with a love potion. He's a pretty shit liar when it comes to it, honestly," she spat bitterly. A tear landed on my cheek and stayed there as she continued, "I started yelling at him, because he really has been an awful boyfriend and the cheating part just tops it all off, and he just rolled his eyes at me and said, 'You're not my mother, Rosie,' which just set me off even more. I was _about_ to hex his balls off when Professor Burnett came around the corner—creepy arsehole—and laughed, 'Lovers' quarrel?' before sending us back to our dorms. I've been trying to get him alone since then so I can give him a piece of my mind, but he seems to know what I want and has been sticking with his pack of Ravenclaw girls ever since. I _did_ get Liz, though, and she's still unconscious in the common room. No one has bothered to get any help because for one, she deserves it, and she'll wake up later feeling almost like she's hungover and has food poisoning. I actually invented a potion just for that and slipped it into her food at dinner. It's really quite funny, because over the past few days, people have been stripping her, inch by inch of fabric, and drawing stuff on her face and body. Ooh, and lately they've been using Weasley's Wizard Wheezes products on her, as well as a few hexes that I've never seen before, so she looks really stupid—what a shock that'll be for her when she wakes up next week."

By the end of her explanation, Rose was laughing and I wanted to hug her—I both wanted to sympathize with her and to congratulate her on her brilliance. I couldn't have thought of anything better, honestly! After Rose was done, Jenny began:

"So I've been ignoring your brother lately, which he totally deserves… He pulled a _dirty_, dirty trick on you and I'm not letting him forget it! He's trying to convince me that you two are even because you broke his arm, but look at you now! It's just completely unfair that you ended up like this, especially since it's the bloody Slytherins were the ones who cheated. Why can't karma ever be on our side?

"He and Scorpius came by a few times to visit you—I think they felt really bad about the whole thing, especially since Al's your brother—and you have a ridiculously large pile of gifts from people, mainly non-Slytherins who want to kill Al right now for doing that! What a cheat. He got called out for it, though, so we won by default. So most of Slytherin is pissed at him, too, because they're now disqualified from the House Cup. But the point is that they seem like they feel pretty shitty about it.

"You're missing tons of NEWTs review, by the way, but you probably don't need it. But you have to help me do revision next year, or else… Okay, okay, no more threatening the girl in a coma. Fine! Oh! I almost forgot to mention that McGonagall announced the Valentine's Day Ball next month, same as usual, but maybe it'll be special this year? Who knows? I'm really excited for it, though, because once Al and I make up we can go together. It'll be so romantic! It was stupid in the past few years, mainly because I never had a date and it just seemed silly and sappy, which it is, but it's better when you're with someone, you know? Oh, I hope I didn't hit a sore spot there, since you just broke up with Scorp—never mind, I won't talk about that anymore.

"… Oh, crap, Al's been behind me for half of this time, hasn't he?"

"Yes, I have. Why are you talking to my sister when she's not even conscious?"

"Because," Dom interrupted, "my dad said that sometimes comatose people can hear what you're saying because they're awake on the _inside_—just not the outside! Isn't that cool? We're hoping that this works. Want to give it a try? Oh, and I guess you can, too, Scorpius. I hope she doesn't wake up because you're talking to her and punch you in the face or something. She would totally do that…"

I would have. Dom knew me so well.

Al sighed. "It can't hurt, can it? Well, not unless Lily decides she wants to punch me in the face, too, for getting her here."

Oh, I would've if I could've.

"So, um, this is kind going to be kind of awkward isn't it? It's just kind of weird talking to someone when you don't know that they're there. Maybe that'll happen someday. Huh. Anyway, Lily, I'm really sorry about what happened. I won't say why I did it, but you know. It wasn't funny! And you don't need to chew me out for this later, because Mum and Dad already have. Numerous times. It was horrible, honestly! Dad was disappointed in me. _Disappointed_. I'm grounded for two months when I get back home this summer before I can finally move out.

"I know Scorpius wants to have his fair share of time to talk to you, too, but before you get up and sock him in the face you need to know that he had a good reason for doing it. We can't tell you now, but we will. Soon."

A good reason? If I had been able to snort at that moment, that was exactly what I would've done. What reason could he possibly have for suddenly ignoring me for weeks on end, just after we took the next step in our relationship? It had been heartless and cruel, and just plain stupid of him. I wasn't forgiving him for this any time soon.

"I can't really be on speaking terms with you right now, Lily, but since this is the equivalent of talking to a wall, I don't think it counts. Your friends left a few minutes ago, by the way. I'm sorry for what happened—_both_ things that happened. You don't know how sorry I am, and I don't know if you ever will. Bye, Al. I don't care if you don't want to listen to my 'sappy shit!' If you're going to leave, just _leave_.

His voice now was hoarse and husky, and he sounded like he'd cried his throat raw—but why would he do that? "Anyway. I really hope we can be friends in the future, Lily. Things are a bit complicated right now, and getting you involved even further would just hurt you. You won't understand—and I'll accept it if you never forgive me, because even when I tell you the truth you'll have a reason as to why we still could've stayed together. Just know that I love you, Lily. I always will."

His chair scraped the floor as he pushed it away from me, and I heard his footsteps as he left the Hospital Wing.

What?

What had he just said?

_I love you, Lily._

Oh, Circe, I was more confused than ever now.


	23. Chapter 23

**A/N: Oh my gosh, Canary Creams hit a hundred reviews! And over eleven thousand views in total! Last chapter got the highest amount of reviews yet; I can't tell all of you how grateful I am for your continued support for this story, despite the fact that I can't update often. Speaking of which, I'm REALLY sorry. There was an issue with the computer that I was borrowing for a few weeks, so I wasn't able to upload anything until I got mine back. Sorry for the delay, but at least it's here now? :P I hope you enjoy this next chapter (and that I can get the next one up soon!)**

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><p>The rest of my stay in the Hospital Wing felt like an eternity—no offense to Madam Pomfrey, of course— filled with potions that tasted worse every time and visits from my friends. I even received a few from people I didn't know. Neither Scorpius nor Al visited again, although Scorpius's words still haunted me somewhat; I just didn't know what they were supposed to <em>mean<em>. The days passed sluggishly, despite my near-constant company, and I could tell that it had been weeks now, maybe a month.

I desperately wanted to wake up from the strange state I was in, but no matter what I tried, my body wouldn't respond. I stayed still and silent and alone.

Dom droned on above me—her daily reports were less and less interesting, now mainly focusing on this week's edition of _Witch Weekly_ and how absolutely _useless_ the beauty tips were. Determinedly, I thought, _I'm going to wake up now. I swear I will._

And just like that, I was awake.

The look on Dom's face was priceless as I sat up, sighed, and muttered, "If I'd known that that was all it took, I would've gotten up ages ago…"

Dom continued to stare at me, frozen, until she finally yelled, "OH MY GOD, LILY, YOU'RE AWAKE!"

"Of course I am. I've been awake this whole time," I laughed.

In an instant, Madam Pomfrey was at my side with her tray of potions. "Oh, not those again," I groaned. "What do they even do?"

But she wasn't even paying attention; instead, she was staring at me in wide-eyed wonder.

"This is a miracle! I've never seen anything like this before, not in my lifetime…" She continued to whisper in an awed tone, poking and prodding my body parts as I squirmed uncomfortably.

It was ages before I was finally allowed out, and even then, it took me quite a while to get all of my things out as well—there was a pile of gifts and treats from visitors that was nearly as tall as I was. Finally, having summoned my beaded bag and shoved all the presents in, we left the room and walked to the common room, which, surprisingly, was filled with people. They all looked up as I entered, shock registering on all of their faces. Jenny, who had been walking past the Fat Lady's portrait, did a double take when she saw me before squealing and tackling me to the floor. Rose managed to find us too, as she'd heard the news, and had very much the same reaction when she spotted me.

After we went out to a shady tree by the Great Lake, I explained everything to them, although I didn't mention what Scorpius had said to me. They were all amazed, even Dom, despite the fact that _she_ had been the one convincing people that I could hear them talking to me.

It had been a month and two weeks since the Quidditch game, which meant that we'd played another one against Ravenclaw with a different Seeker, but I wasn't sure who. Regardless, we'd won and were going to play in the finals with Slytherin again. Also, after some careful persuading, my teachers had excused me from all of the homework I'd missed—not that Binns cared—so long as I got myself all caught up on our coursework.

"So," Jenny began, "Valentine's Day is the day after tomorrow—Saturday—and none of us have anything planned—"

"Of course you have things planned!" I interrupted incredulously. "Don't you all have dates?"

All three of them looked sheepish. "Well, we do, but we were about to cancel them to spend some time with you, seeing as you and—never mind," Rose said hastily, her eyes widening at her almost-mention of Scorpius.

I pretended to not hear the last part of the sentence. "Don't cancel your plans for me! Go and have fun! Honestly, you deserve it… I'd feel awful if I was keeping you from your boyfriends on Valentine's Day, even if it _is_ pretty much a ploy to get people to spend all of their money."

"But you've pretty much been in a coma for the last month! We just want to spend more time with you," Dom pouted. "I don't care if it's Valentine's Day. We should spend it together."

"You should be spending it with your boyfriend, though!" I countered, feeling guilty. "Isn't that the point? Besides, we'll still have every other day to spend in each other's company! Really, I know you want to go with them. Don't worry about me, I'll be fine."

"Okay," Rose finally agreed, although they all looked troubled and reluctant. "But there's something you have to know first…"

"It's just that, well…" Jenny started nervously, "Well…"

"Scorpius has a girlfriend," Dom blurted.

It hurt to hear her say it, although I hadn't doubted that he had already moved on, for whatever reasons he had. But hearing it aloud from someone else made it real. Plastering a smile on my face, I pretended to laugh, "Oh, I'm not surprised. It's fine, really."

They all looked doubtful, but nodded anyways and we moved on to other subjects, chatting until it was nearly curfew, even staying up past midnight gossiping together in our dorms.

The whole time, all I was thinking was that I had the best friends in the entire world.

Hr here

On the morning of Valentine's Day, I woke up to find a large pile of presents at the foot of my bed. Bewildered, I dragged myself out of bed and began opening them.

Of course, I had received several sets of chocolates and sweets from Honeydukes as part of the tradition that Dom, Rose, Jenny, and I nearly-religiously upheld ever since we were allowed to go to Hogsmeade—even before then, as we would sometimes order things by owl and snuck some sweets in with our supplies on occasion.

In addition to that, I found some Chocolate Frogs from Al and James, and two larger packages that I wasn't sure I was ready to open. Who would send me gifts like that? They had no notes or anything—they were just neatly wrapped, both in the garish gift-wrap used by Honeydukes when ordering for this day especially. I was staring at both when the other girls began to wake, each squealing at their gifts from their boyfriends (and me).

"Ooh, what're those, Lily?" Dom gasped, peering over at my two anonymous presents, which I had been looking at for the past twenty minutes as if staring at them might reveal something special. "Open them! Open them!"

Jenny and Rose were all looking at it curiously, too, and I slowly began to pull the wrapping off of the smaller one. It was a deluxe set of Sugar Quills: every new flavor and in all different sizes. They were my favorite—Scorpius's too, I realized, feeling a pang of sadness at the thought.

A note was on the front, written in a messy scrawl that I didn't recognize:_ Roses are red, violets are blue… You don't know me, but I like you. _I stared at it in shock as the other girls pulled it away from me and squealed in excitement.

"Lily has a secret admirer!" cooed Rose. "That's so sweet!"

"Lily, you just might have another boyfriend on the way…"

"Oh, wow… That's so cute! I love poems, even if they are unoriginal!"

After they had finished clamoring, I reached for the other package, peeling the pink paper off of it as well. I recognized the set immediately, having seen it but was never able to afford it myself: Honeydukes' Finest—Luxury Set. It had been released exactly a year ago, and it was clearly so expensive that they wouldn't even give a price. Those interested were to contact the owners to negotiate a price, and it was rumored that it really cost a small fortune to buy.

The girls, who had been whispering, fell into an awed silence at the sight of the box on my lap. Burned into the cover with someone's wand (rather neatly, for something done for a wand—it was always tricky to write things with them) were the words_ Never forget that I love you._

"Could it be your dad, Lily?" asked Jenny after a few moments. "I mean, it'd make sense…"

"No," I replied, in a bit of a daze, "he'd never get so many sweets for me. My mum is always trying to get him to stop buying these things for us. If she found out that he'd gotten something like this, he'd be good as dead. Besides, my mum scares the living daylights out of all of us."

They all laughed in agreement, having met my parents many, many times—they'd seen just how threatening my mum could be.

I finally opened the box after continuing to debate about who might've sent such a thing to me; nothing could have prepared me for what I saw inside it.

The box clearly had an Undetectable Expansion Charm on it, as the inside was huge and was still packed to the brim with various sweets, and there were even more on the underside of the lid. There were the Sugar Quills I had received, but in more flavors than I knew of—and in even more sizes: one that was ridiculously huge, and even one that was almost too small to see—as well as Chocolate Frogs with every card ever in existence in them (according to the slip of paper attached, anyways) and countless other kinds of candy. I saw a long list of flavors for Bertie Bott's Every Flavour Beans (all of which were in the large box included) that had ones listed that _definitely_ never should have been made, and sweets that I'd never seen before.

Dom lifted a small box called "Honeydukes' Specialty Hogwarts Lollipops" and said, "These must be really old or just haven't come out yet… I've never seen these before."

We each took a lollipop out from the box—there were only four—and stared at them in wonder: each one represented a different House. Rose got Ravenclaw, Jenny Hufflepuff, Dom Gryffindor, and I Slytherin; the lollipops moved and made sounds according to the animal it represented. Dom looked frightened at the prospect of putting a roaring lion candy into her mouth, and I wasn't sure about my snake either: it kept hissing and sticking its tongue out at me in a threatening way as if it knew that I was about to eat it. The bird on Rose's was very calm, however, and looked somewhat regal; Jenny's badger simply looked confused.

Tentatively putting hers into her mouth, Dom said, "My lollipop tastes like cherries! Ouch, it bit me…"

"Of course it did," I laughed. "It's a Gryffindor! It's not going down without a fight…"

Sticking it back into her mouth, she mused, "It tastes like watermelon now. OUCH! STOP BLOODY BITING ME, YOU STUPID LION!"

After some frustration, we discovered that the lollipops changed flavors each time you put them in your mouth. It was much like Bertie Bott's Every Flavour Beans in the sense that you never knew what flavor you might get: Dom was about to retch when she received vomit.

Rose was about to put hers into her mouth when the raven said, "Are you really, truly sure about this? I could be poisoned, you know."

She frowned thoughtfully. "You're right… That could be dangerous."

"Oh, just eat it, Rose!" Dom laughed at her. "It's just trying to persuade you not to."

"And I thought Gryffindors were all brawn, no brain," mused the raven as it went into Rose's mouth.

"You're not going to bite me, are you?" Jenny asked the badger.

It blinked. Jenny shrugged and tried it. "Yuck. It's tuna flavored…"

I was lifting mine up to see what flavor I might get when I saw something that genuinely shocked me. The long snake was uncoiling itself and slowly slithering down the stick it sat on, trying to escape. "Oh, no, you don't!" I growled, frustrated, as I tried to pull it back up. It wouldn't budge—it was solid and unmoving where it was on the stick now. As I tried to bring it up to me again, it began moving once more and when I tried to pick it up, it stopped and wouldn't move again.

"How am I supposed to do this?" I groaned after several failed tries at eating the snake. "Stupid, slippery snake."

I stared at the stick for a moment, finally noticing a small note written where the snake had been coiled: _To catch the snake, think like one._

I read it aloud to the others and complained, "Think like a snake? What's that supposed to mean?"

They started to come up with theories:

"Talk to it in Parseltongue! Wait, no one speaks that anymore…"

"Chop it up into bits!"

"Maybe if you hiss at it, it'll work! Isn't Parseltongue just hissing?"

"Stun it!"

"Really, I think Parseltongue would work."

After some time, I gave up listening and decided that I'd let the snake come to me—blocking the end farthest away from me with one hand, I brought it closer to my face, and as it realized that it couldn't get past the barrier my hand made, it slithered back to its old spot and coiled up, not moving again afterwards. I grinned and tried it, choking and spluttering. It was pus flavored: the snake's last bit of revenge.

When I finished it, there was something tiny and solid left in my mouth, so I pulled it out and stared in wonder and the tiny bottle in my hand. Rose pulled her wand out and said, "_Engorgio_."

The bottle grew bigger and bigger, stopping when it was just large enough to fit into the palm of my hand. There was something inside, so I managed to uncork it and take the slip of paper there out. In meticulously neat (and familiar) handwriting, it said "_Yes, we Slytherins are truly slippery creatures._"

As we began to go through the box, we found more and more of the bottles containing similar messages, but they were only in things related to Slytherin in some way—a green Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Bean, a green Sugar Quill, and even things that looked like worms or snakes. The one in the Sugar Quill said _I know these are our favorites._

After a while, I realized that the handwriting could really only belong to one person, but… it didn't add up in my head. How could Scorpius have bought something so extravagant for me when he wouldn't even look at me? Why would he leave these messages when he wouldn't speak to me?

"Oi, Lily!" Dom called, snapping me out of my trancelike state. "We're going to breakfast. Are you coming? You might get something else from your secret admirer in the post…"

"I'm coming," I replied, quickly changing and brushing my hair.

I was climbing through the portrait hole when I saw a seventh-year boy from Ravenclaw standing there, clearly looking for someone. "Can I help you?" I asked politely.

"I think you can," he smiled warmly. "My name's Jack Edwards. Did you get my gift?"


End file.
